Image Change
by Aeneid
Summary: [On-hold until further notice.] When Carly Nagisa is chosen to become the new face to advertise Kaiba Corp.'s new D-Wheels, it never occurred to Jack Atlas just how much trouble it'll bring him for being too complacent. Some Kiryuu Kyousuke x Misty Lola included.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first fic for the 5D's series, and frankly, I'm nervous. I don't dwell too much in the technical terms of the series, but I got inspired with the duel between Jack and Carly for episodes 58 and 59. Because of those episodes, I got an idea for this fic. My background in advertising and public relations also played a role in making this fic, and the rest is history. I just hope I have written those correctly. If there's a mistake, it's entirely mine. It's been some time since I tackled those terms so... XD;

Fic has a high rating because of the content. It may go up as the story progresses.

Japanese terms were used so D-Wheel = Duel Runner, Running Duel = Turbo Duel and so on. Check YGO wikia if in doubt. XD

This was supposed to be a one shot, but it dragged on, and on, and on... with that, I decided to make it into a chaptered fic.

Fair warning: I cannot promise that I will finish this story, as I usually lose interest in the middle of a fic so... please bear with me when that happens. Hopefully, I can finish this before my interest in 5D's wane... orz

Without further ado, here's my first ever fic for the fandom!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. It belongs to its respective owners. I, however, own the plot for this fanfiction.

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Image Change

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**Chapter 1**

* * *

Somehow, she knew she shouldn't have let the fashion model do all the talking but…

It was over and done with.

With Misty Lola by her side, Carly Nagisa would become the new face of the D-Wheels developed by the Kaiba Corporation.

It all started when the Corporation had contacted Misty to be the new face of the D-Wheels they were specifically developing for female duelists who wished to get into riding duels. To their surprise, she declined the offer, stating that she knew next to nothing about operating a D-Wheel because her knowledge was strictly limited to street duels.

"No one will care if you don't know how to ride a D-Wheel, Misty." The representative of the company said during an informal meeting among the advertising agency under the arm of the Corporation, the public relations agency and the supermodel Misty Lola herself. They were all currently in the meeting room of the corporation building, discussing and negotiating the terms of the contract.

Misty tapped her finger against the wooden desk. "Yes, but to mislead them into me knowing how to ride one would be against my principles. I will agree, only if the corporation will teach me how to ride one." She stated.

"Unfortunately, the campaign will start in three months' time…" the creative director spoke.

Three months, according to Misty, was not enough to cover everything (Carly thought otherwise), and so, the two agencies tried to contact Izayoi Aki from Team 5D's of Japan, the defending champions of the World Racing Grand Prix for this year. Unfortunately, the female riding duelist was too busy to prepare for the said tournament, which was six months away, and declined the offer.

Desperate, they asked Misty Lola for a recommendation when they met again three days after the first meeting.

The raven-haired beauty tried hard to think of a name who would be able to pull this off. Several minutes later, she spoke up.

"Well, I do know a female who knows how to ride a D-Wheel but…"

"We'll take her!"

"Very well. I shall contact her." stepping outside of the meeting room, she then took out her hand phone and called the person she was looking for. After three rings, it was picked up.

"Hey Misty." The familiar trifocal lenses came on view, and the news reporter gave a little wave before setting down her mobile phone and going back on the article she was doing. Currently, Nagisa was on a 'work from home' designation. "What's up?"

The older of the two suddenly became nervous. "Carly, I've a favor to ask you…" she said softly.

Somehow, she doesn't feel confident anymore about all this.

What if Carly declined the favor?

What of the campaign?

She understood the implications if the casting call didn't go as planned… it would be back to the drawing room for them, and they had less than twenty four hours to get everything done before the start the grueling process of photo shoots and commercial shoots for the campaign.

"Sure, what is it? I'll try my best to help out." Carly kept on going at it on her keyboard, typing madly as she rushed to finish her article.

With this, Misty Lola pushed her luck.

"Please meet me at the Café la Geen in half an hour."

* * *

Carly Nagisa ran as fast as she could to the said establishment without getting herself injured in the process, though she nearly did trip when she got to the door. Ignoring Stephanie the waitress' glare at her presence, the reporter headed inside the cozy café where her model friend was waiting.

"Misty!" she went over to the corner and sat on the unoccupied chair across the lady.

"There you are. So, regarding the favor…" to the eyeglass-wearing woman's shock, her fellow ex-Dark Signer started twiddling her thumbs, as if hesitate about something. "Well…"

"I'm all ears." She reassured Misty.

"… I was wondering if you'd like to be the model for the Kaiba Corporation's advertising campaign." Misty said it so softly, but thanks to Carly's sharp hearing, she managed to understand it despite the low voice of the speaker.

Of course, after processing the statement, the specs-wielder raised an eyebrow.

Her, a model?

Totally surprising and unheard of.

"Ummm… is this for real…?" she had to make sure that she heard it correctly, about her becoming a model for the Kaiba Corporation.

"Of course it's real." Misty huffed a bit, though a soft smile was tugging on her lips. "Why would I even ask you go to here if I wasn't serious about this?"

"Well…" she had a point, but still…

"Anyways," she continued. "is it a yes or a no?"

"Before that, I want to ask what I'll be doing." If this was a serious suggestion, she will have to take this seriously as well.

"The agency informed me that you'll be advertising the D-Wheels that the Kaiba Corp. is developing for female riding duelists. You know that I don't ride those, but…" she looked at Carly. "You have ridden one before."

At this, she smiled grimly, remembering the memory. She had told no one of her recovered memories, save for Misty. It was Kiryuu Kyousuke, a fellow ex-Dark Signer, who taught her how to ride a D-Wheel. At that time, she was desperate to duel Jack Atlas, and Kiryuu offered to teach her, both knowing that even if she got herself injured practicing, nothing bad will happen. After all, they were dead already. "Y-yes, I have…" that Riding Duel was still fresh from her mind, despite the fact that two years have passed.

"Izayoi Aki is currently busy with the World Racing Grand Prix, and with the Corporation wanting to launch the D-Wheels one week before the WRGP, they only have three months to finish _everything _before the campaign starts in May."

She did not know how the advertising world worked, but judging from Misty's stories about her photo shoots done at least a year before the product launch, she knew they had to rush everything to make it in time.

"So… I take it that they'll only take pictures of my face?"

Misty shook her head. "Bikini photo shoots, as well as the suits worn by Riding Duelists…"

"O-Oh my God." suddenly, she felt so conscious of her figure. "W-won't they call me fat…?"

"I doubt it." she shook her head. "You flaunted that Dark Signer outfit of yours perfectly that I remember Jack Atlas staring so much at your direction when he saw you."

Carly turned crimson immediately. "W-what?"

A light smirk was seen on Misty's face. "As I was saying, I think you'll be perfect for the role." She said, changing the subject. "So, are you in?"

"Uh… okay…?"

"Great. Let's head to the Kaiba Corporation building." Leaving out some bills for her coffee, Misty stood up, grabbed Carly's hand and pulled her.

"W-wait, now?" Carly wondered how her friend could run in stilettos, when she could barely manage to run in sneakers and not trip.

"Yes, now." She half-dragged the dark olive green-haired news reporter, determined to get to the building as soon as possible. "We must hurry!"

"Wait, wait, wait, I—" before she could finish her sentence, a certain blond was making his way to the café they had just exited. "Oh wait, let's hurry!" gripping tightly on Misty's hand, the situation ended up with this: Carly was the one now running as fast as she can while Misty, in her stilettos, getting dragged behind, though was actually managing to keep up with the reporter.

Of course, it did not escape the blond's notice that Carly looked like she was running for her life, her cheeks flushed and, for once, was not tripping over her shoes. What made it weird in his sight was the fact that Misty Lola was getting dragged around.

He brushed it aside.

It was a typical Carly Nagisa antic.

Now, for his Blue-Eyes Mountain…

* * *

As soon as they got there, Misty had led Carly into the familiar meeting room where the advertising team, as well as the public relations teams, were waiting. After the formal introduction, as well as the contract signing, Carly was informed that in three hours' time, she was to get ready for the practice shoot. At this, she had panicked, but Misty promised to teach her for the meantime, as well as to accompany her for the shoot later.

Three hours later, at ten in the evening, Carly was currently in the studio of the Kaiba Corporation building, wearing a very skimpy orange bandeau bikini with a matching orange bikini bottoms that had twin cutouts on her hips. If that wasn't that embarrassing enough, the D-Wheel that the Corporation had used for the shoot was the Wheel of Fortune.

A certain former King's signature D-Wheel.

How they managed to get _him_ to agree to use his Wheel of Fortune for this shoot, she did not know.

But one thing's for certain: if she was asked to sit on it…

_Oh my gooooooooood._ Carly was sure that she was going to die of embarrassment before the shoot was over. The first shot she did was her backside facing the camera, her head turned sideways, still looking at the camera while the Wheel of Fortune was on the background, as if enticing the viewer of the ad. Of course, she did not understand why the camera had to be focused on her butt first, then up to her chin, then finally, a full body photo. When she asked, Misty clarified that the first one would be the teaser photo to be released three months after.

Oh god, her ass was going to be all over Neo Domino City before they'll show her face.

'_Oh yay.' _She thought to herself, torn between laughter and terror. _'Great. My ass is the first thing that gets media coverage.'_

"Okay, great! Now, we move on to the D-Wheel. Carly, can you try and get on it?" the photographer, whom Carly also knew because they had met each other during press conferences, smiled at her.

At this, she turned red, while Misty smirked lightly behind the camera. "Umm… okay…" wearing beige five-inch stiletto heels, she slowly made her way to the said vehicle, trying hard not to trip on her way to it. When she managed to make it, she got on the seat and sat on it, feeling the leather on her skin. "Okay, now I'm on…"

"Great! Now imagine that you're going to be taken in from behind."

If she hadn't been holding onto the handle bars on the sides, she would've fallen down from shock.

"… Errr… what?"

"Stand on the foot pegs, hands on the handle bar covers to the side, lean forward and look at the camera. Butt out too, so we can show everyone that perfect ass." The photographer then grins.

Her blush intensifies, yet she tried hard to look seductive. The photographer thought otherwise, remarking that she looked like a 'blushing virgin' while on wheels, though there was 'nothing wrong about it'.

"It may even appeal to the duelists." Said the female photographer.

Oh yes, the end was near.

Carly Nagisa, sex symbol of the duelists.

Unlikely.

* * *

I hope the fic was tolerable. Please tell me what you think in the review!


	2. Chapter 2

I finished early, so I decided to post the next chapter. Hopefully, I can still continue this pace and finish this fic around Valentine's Day or so, unless something distracts me. XD;

Forgot to mention in the first chapter that story takes place either post-series or in an AU setting. Take you pick, hehe. Spoilers abound too, but I'll keep it to a minimum.

More Jack Atlas appearance here, plus a moment between him and Carly. I've forgotten how to do romantic scenes, so please forgive me if it sucks. ._.

Major thanks to Jashin for giving me private input on how to proceed with Jack's attitude. He's seriously tsundere, but not like the tsundere boys I've written about before so he's all new to me... ^^;

Without further ado...

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Image Change

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**Chapter 2**

* * *

Three months into the speedy photoshoot, and she felt like collapsing to the ground and sleep the whole day away. The Corporation was not taking any chances, and since she wasn't a professional model, they made sure she was doing everything perfectly. The image of Kaiba Corporation was at stake, and they wouldn't let some unknown woman be their "downfall". Today was the final day for the photoshoot, as well as the commercials, and Carly wanted to give it her all for her last hurrah.

"You never told me that it was this hard." Carly told Misty when they met up at the end of the day in that café where they had met for the campaign. Café la Geen was more than happy to accommodate the two, and even if Stephanie still glared at her at times, she ignored it. She was happy with what was going on, even if she really, really wanted to sleep right now…

She took a sip from her coffee cup and tried to stifle a yawn from her mouth.

Misty chuckled. "You work hard for it, of course. It's not as easy as it looks."

"Tell me about it. This is harder than when I started working for the newspaper company…" despite the grueling schedule, she still had her day job as a reporter, and this stint was a secret she will keep until the ads and the commercials start rolling in. "Ugh, I'm so sleepy… this coffee is not giving me my caffeine boost."

"Would you like to take a nap for the meantime?"

"Uh, sure…?"

Concerned, the fashion model took out her mobile phone and dialed a number. "Aki, where are you? Carly needs a place to nap, and I don't think a café is a good place to sleep… yes, we're in La Geen. Oh, your team's garage is just across the street? Very well, we'll be there soon." After hanging up, she placed a handful of bills on the table and took Carly's hand as soon as she finished gulping down the coffee. "Come on, Aki said you can take a nap at 5D's apartment."

"Okay." A yawn promptly came out of her mouth and she let Misty drag her across the street and into the base of Team 5D's, the defending champion of the WRGP.

* * *

"Woah, Carly, you look terrible." were the first words Izayoi Aki spoke when she saw the eyeglass-wearing woman with Misty just outside Poppo Time. Despite the fact that the eyeglasses covered the tiredness in her eyes, the sluggish movements said it all. "Have you been lacking sleep?"

"Something like that." Misty spoke up. "Can she sleep on the couch?"

"No, not the couch." Aki shook her head. "The boys are busy right now, so their rooms are free. Take your pick." It was early afternoon, and 5D's were all busy with their last minute preparations for their D-Wheels. "But… oh wait, I'll ask. Follow me." Aki opened the door wider to let them in and bellowed, "We have guests!"

Immediately, all three boys stopped what they were doing and looked up, while the twins jumped up from where they were seated and ran up the stairs. "Misty! Carly!" Each twin hugged the corresponding woman; Rua hugged Carly while Ruka hugged the fashion model. The male twin then hugged Misty briefly before glomping Carly again, along with his twin.

Misty smiled and hugged back while Carly tried to stifle another yawn to at least bend down and hug the shorter boy, then to his sister, but not before wincing. The muscle pains were still there. "Hello, Rua, Ruka. Sorry, not my usual self today…" she said apologetically to him. Usually, whenever they meet up, she would be just like the two, bouncing and full of energy. Today was an exception.

"Eh? Why? You didn't have enough candy?" Rua asked immediately, wondering why his favorite playmate was so sluggish.

"I lack sleep." she felt another yawn coming.

"Oh, I know! Yuusei, can she stay in your room?" at this, suddenly, the room became too tense for anyone's liking, though the male twin seemed oblivious to it. Ruka, the more insightful of the two, knew that by simply suggesting such, a certain blond in the room was trying to contain himself from doing anything illegal that might end up with him having a mark on his face, or possibly even an execution.

"My room is too messy." Yuusei said calmly, knowing that among the three of them, his room was probably the cleanest, and was suited for a guest who needed a place to crash. Despite this, he lied, just because he simply did not want to be the receiving end of his best friend's jealousy. "Maybe Crow won't mind?"

The carrot top answered too quickly, knowing as well that by saying yes, it warranted a death sentence. "Can't. I've stocked up all of the spare parts to be used in my room, and I'll be going there back and forth. Carly won't have a moment's rest if I keep on barging in. Jack, how about your room?"

_Damn them._ He couldn't see it, but he could almost hear all of them cackling evilly.

Hell, the whole group knew whom he was crushing on, despite the fact that he acted otherwise. Aki pointed out that there was no one worked up over the Dark Signers incident more than him, to which he denied until the red head gave up and said, "Fine, fine, keep saying that." before leaving him alone.

Even Rua was very much interested in his… love life (at this, he snorted inwardly), though Yuusei pointed out that it was because the male twin looked up to him as his idol. If Yuusei was to be believed, the youngest male in the team had, over the years, collected limited edition figurines of him when he was still the King of Running Duels.

"Besides, Carly is his best friend. She's the only one willing to tolerate him whenever he goes way too hyper." Jack remembered Ruka saying this before. "Also, he likes the idea of his idol and his best friend getting together."

What the hell, even kids thought that he and Carly Nagisa would make a cute couple?

Somehow, he was very much tempted to hit his head against the wall until his forehead started bleeding again…

_Deny, deny, deny._

"Fine." He said, going up the stairs. "Follow me."

"T-Thanks!" stifling yet another yawn, she followed the blond to his room.

* * *

She didn't totally expect his room to be… bare.

Well, there was the bed, the desk and his closet, but other than that, there was nothing else. No posters, no photos…

Seeing her blank stare, he asked, "What, were you expecting something grand?"

She shook her head, removed her glasses and placed them on the desk at the same time. "No. This is better than mine." Bending down to remove her rubber shoes and socks, she stuffed the said cloth inside the shoes and literally ran over to the bed and collapsed on top of it. "Yay. King size bed. More room to roll around in." Carly knew she was very much notorious when it came to sleeping, for she rolled around and didn't care if fell halfway through the night. It changes, however, when she knows and feels that someone is sleeping beside her, similar to the times when Aki, Ruka and her have sleepovers. Misty had a busy work schedule most of the time, so it was usually the two girls who spent their time over at her apartment. She, Aki and Ruka would then try to fit in her queen size bed, and during those rare moments, she would sleep as if her only space was a single bed.

Jack snorted. "Roll around?"

"If I'm alone. When Aki and Ruka come over to my place, I rarely move." came her sleepy reply before grabbing one of his pillows and unhooking her belt pack, tossing it on the floor. "Good night." Minutes later, she was fast asleep.

Panic rose from his chest the moment he saw her fall asleep.

Seeing her close her eyes and succumbing to the body's need to rest was like a living nightmare. He remembered clearly during the time when she closed her eyes before reaching out to hug him, she turned into dust and disappeared from his reach.

He felt so devastated at that time that he wondered if he would be traumatized for life after seeing and feeling such a thing…

_I just want to make sure she's here…_

Ignoring every rational thought that came to his head, he came over to the side of his bed and slowly, but surely, lifted her a bit and wrapped his arms around her, inhaling her scent. It looked silly, and this was certainly very much unlike him, but anyone who sees him in this state could just go to hell.

He counted the seconds that passed…

The minutes…

She was still in his arms, sleeping the minutes and probably the hours away, and not going away anytime soon.

Carly Nagisa was alive.

She was still in his arms even after he held her for several minutes, and she did not crumble into dust and disappeared without a trace.

"Carly…" he called out to her softly before placing her back gently into his bed. As soon as he did, her left hand held on to his white motor suit, unconsciously pulling him back. He removed her hand away from his suit and he walked out of his room, never hesitating, never looking back.

The idea of her sleeping in his bed was nice, but her unconsciously inviting him…

Well, Jack Atlas could at least admit to himself that he liked it.

* * *

"Took you long enough." Crow Hogan's teasing voice echoed throughout the garage when he finally returned, prompting everyone to smirk at him. Heaven forbid, even Misty Lola smirked knowingly in his direction, and she barely knew him!

"I was taking my time." his amethyst eyes glared at the carrot top's direction, and that instantly shushed him up. "And I needed a break."

Hopefully, they wouldn't notice the blush threatening to break out on his cheeks…

"So Misty, when did you get back?" Aki asked.

"Just last week. Kaiba Corporation contacted me and asked if I could do an advertisement with them, but it didn't push through." She said. "I'll be staying for the meantime in Neo Domino before I start on my projects again."

"Will you be back for the WRGP?" Ruka asked curiously, and Misty nodded in affirmation. "Oh yay!"

"I take it that all of us will stick together during the pre-WRGP party again?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, but this time, don't wear such a ridiculous costume." Crow piped in, which the blond ignored, then turned to Misty. "Hopefully, you can convince Carly to do away with that disgusting blue dress."

Misty gave him an amused look. "So you've seen that as well?" when the whole team nodded, she chuckled. "That was the dress she wore when she and I first met at you movie premier, Jack."

"Ooooooh." Rua echoed, as if he had found something of utmost importance. "Oh, and Misty, make her ditch her glasses for that day too! She's prettier without it!"

Misty knew that the Corporation would indeed force Carly to wear contact lenses for the party, which also served as the press conference for the WRGP, as to make it known that she is indeed the endorser of the new D-Wheels for female Running Duelists, but she knew that she had to do her part and convince her as well. She didn't want to take any chances. "Duly noted. I will hide her glasses the night before and make her the prettiest woman in the party."

"Oh, you shouldn't make her very pretty. _Someone_ will get jealous if Carly suddenly attracted attention from guys other than that _someone_." Aki spoke up.

"Very well. I'll make her look pretty to that _someone_ alone." Misty wondered how that was possible to become pretty for only one man, yet she knew it could work, one way or the other.

No matter what Carly Nagisa wore, Jack Atlas would always have his eyes on her.

"No, no, make her the prettiest so that Jack will get so jealous that he'll have to make a move!" Rua spoke up.

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Jack growled.

Rua turned to face his idol, eyes shining. "Oh, come on, you haven't been making a move on Carly-neesan! She'll be taken away if you don't make a move!"

"No guy ever looks at her anyway." _Except me_.

"You're that confident?" Hogan looked at him, eyebrows raised. "Is it because she's unattractive in the eyes of most males in Neo Domino City, as well as in Satellite?" when Jack became silent all of a sudden, it was all he wanted to know. "Alright then… but don't say I didn't warn you." Everyone nodded in agreement while Jack scowled at them.

Taking in all the information that was said, the fashion model nearly smirked to herself with the fact that Jack Atlas, the original King, was too much of a coward to make a move, yet still confident that her friend was unable to attract the attention of the opposite sex.

Well, he'll just have to wait for three more months.

By then, he'll have to arm himself with a stick to beat up all of Carly's admirers.

'_Don't say you weren't warned indeed…'_

_

* * *

_

By half past five, when there was still no sign of Carly going back to the garage, Misty spoke up. "Carly and I need to go soon… and we need to be there by half past six." At their puzzled look, she explained, "We need to be there earlier than the prescribed time."

"I'll wake her up. I need to change anyway." He said, referring to his motor suit, which doubled as his work suit. "I'll shower first, then wake her up."

Izayoi faked a gasp that sounded like it was from a horror movie. "Oh my goodness, Jack, what if she wakes up while you are changing? THE HORROR!" at this, Crow started howling in laughter, nearly falling down from laughing too much while Misty was biting her lower lip to regain her composure. Yuusei stopped his typing and aimed a smirk at his best friend while the twins looked confused.

"They're probably used to seeing each other in a state of half-nakedness or otherwise. They were, after all, housemates for some time."

Jack nearly wanted to kill Fudou Yuusei for saying such.

That was supposed to be a secret between them!

Well, it was, among him, Sagiri Mikage, Ushio Tetsu and Yuusei.

"Whaaaat? You stayed at Carly's apartment before?" Aki bellowed. "She didn't tell me!"

"It was a temporary arrangement. I wanted some time alone." He supplied.

"Time alone with Carly, you mean?" It was Misty's turn to smirk.

Why the hell was everyone picking on him today?

Why the hell were they taking everything out of context?

It wasn't as if they had done _something_… though somehow, at the back of his mind, he wished _something_ had happened…

'_Where the hell did that come from?'_ brushing the thought aside, he ignored their remarks and made his way to the bathroom and take his long overdue shower.

Several minutes later, after his bath, he got dressed and made his way to his room. There, he found Carly, her upper body on the floor while the lower half was still on his bed. His pillows were on the floor, and the blanket was twisted all over her hips. To his mortification, her stripped shirt was all bunched up over her chest, revealing her brassiere and her… well-endowed chest.

Pushing all his 'evil thoughts' aside, he went over to her and pulled the shirt down, careful not to touch anything… unnecessary.

'_What the hell happened to you?'_ Jack tried waking her up, but when he failed to do so, he lifted her back to his bed instead. "Carly, wake up." he shook her hard this time, but failed to rouse her. "Hey, wake up!"

He tried to wake her up for several minutes but to no avail.

She really was exhausted…

He checked his clock. 5:30PM.

The man had no time to lose. He had to wake her up as soon as possible, but the methods he used were of no use.

How does one wake up a deep sleeper? Shake her harder?

'_Better yet, why not kiss her awake?'_

Where the hell did that come from?

_Still…_ he looked around his room, making sure that it was only the two of them inside (who knew, maybe some of his teammates were spying on him) and checked the door, making sure that he had indeed locked it.

_Besides, she won't remember it. She's sleeping like a rock…_

He felt his face become warmer by the second, and he knew it wasn't because the room was hot. On the contrary, it was cool, but with his conscience tempting him to do things that was so un-Jack Atlas…

Well, it would be unlike him, but the idea itself…

To his shock and surprise, he liked it.

What the hell was going on with him?

'_Damn hormones.' _was the only thing he could think of right now, especially since Jack knew that the real him would never even think about this, nor would it even occur to him. he could always blame those damn hormones that were now going at him in full force.

During his teenage years, girls have been far from his mind. All he wanted was to be the best duelist in Neo Domino City, and to be the _real King_.

Now that he was turning 20 this year, suddenly, girls became more interesting and appealing to his eyes. True, a year ago, Carly Nagisa had only been a passing fancy, but as time went on, the attraction became too intense and unimaginable. He clearly remembered the time during the battle between them and the Dark Signers how he felt: angry that he pushed her too far into becoming the enemy, and frustration that he was unable to save her. to his embarrassment, he wore his heart on his sleeve during their Riding Duel, and was very disappointed when she came back with no memories of what had transpired between them.

He was hurt, and all he could do was be indifferent.

Unfortunately, it was difficult. Despite the fact that he tried to ignore her, he couldn't understand why his heart would suddenly start pounding like crazy when she was near, or why he would turn red whenever people teased the two of them together.

And he thought emotions could easily be manipulated, just like people…

It took some time before he could accept that he still had some… feelings for her. Jack was in for a shock when he woke up one morning and suddenly having a 'startling revelation' that his attraction to her was turning into something deeper. The duelist refused to use the word 'love' because it was too soon.

Everything was messing up his rational side, and it was nearly driving him crazy…

'_Stop spacing out, Jack, you need to wake her up. Either you kiss her or you shake her awake. Make a choice.' _the voice inside him said, snapping him out of his reverie.

Well, there was only one thing left to do.

Jack Atlas, the original King, took the plunge.

On his knees beside his bed, he lowered his head over the sleeping reporter's face and kissed her.

He felt her warm lips against his, and he parted his own slowly, tasting her. He nibbled her lower lip gently before moving on to her upper lip, using a bit of his tongue to tease her. Panic suddenly struck him when he felt her open her mouth and started kissing him back. When he tried to pull away, Carly suddenly captured his tongue and began sucking on it, causing him to involuntarily moan against her mouth. Then suddenly, just like that, she pulled away from the kiss and continued dozing off.

"W-wha…" before he could even complete a sentence, or even comprehend what had just happened, the former Dark Signer in his bed began to stir.

Fighting the urge to walk away, he then placed his hands on her shoulder and shook her awake, ignoring the fact that his hands were shaking as well for some reason. "Carly, wake up…" for now, he'd have to pretend that all this time, he was shaking her awake, and that the sleepyhead refused to budge for at least fifteen minutes.

At last, her gray eyes opened, and Jack found himself under her sleepy gaze. The blond fought hard to suppress the heat making its way to his face. "Oh, Jack… hi." She greeted him, but not before letting out a yawn. "Is it time…?"

"Y-yeah… Misty said you need to be off somewhere before 6:30. It's quarter to six." Did he just stutter?

"Oh." Letting out a yawn, she then stretched on the bed and rubbed her eyes once more. Curiously, she was also blushing… "Well, guess I have to go to work."

He wondered why she was off to work at night, but silently reminded himself that she was working for the media, and the media never had holidays, nor breaks. "Good luck." He found himself saying while she bent down to put on her socks and sneakers.

"Thanks!" she said brightly, retrieving her belt pack and hooking it around her waist. "And thank you for the bed. I slept well."

_Good thing she really was asleep…_ "… You're welcome." He replied awkwardly, trying hard to calm himself down as well.

Jack still couldn't believe he had done such a thing.

Was it possible for something to be both rational and irrational at the same time?

Fine, he was… attracted to her, and kissing Carly was rational because he had feelings for her. But for him to follow through with it was simply…

Madness.

Shit, he really needed to sort his feelings out immediately.

"I'll see you again soon, okay?" Carly's hand was on his door and had thrown him a question over her shoulder while he was contemplating. Her signature eyeglasses were back, and somehow, he felt relief that she was wearing those again. Carly without her eyeglasses still did not sit well with him.

She continued. "I know the WRGP is very near, so if it's okay with you and your team, may I visit again? I'll be writing an article soon about your team."

"Write whatever you like."

"Hmph!" she pouted at him, which he found endearing, before saying, "Write whatever I like… typical Jack Atlas statement. So you won't mind if I say that I think 5D's will lose badly this time because the original King is their weakest link?"

"Hey!" he glared his amethyst-colored eyes at her, warning her that if she pushed through with it, he'd be merciless.

"Kidding." She carelessly threw him a grin. "I'll see you soon then."

"I'll show you the way out." He said, opening the door for her, and to his surprise, Misty was standing outside his door. Immediately, he panicked (for the third time today, no less) at the sight of her, wondering just how long she had been standing outside his door. Surprisingly, beside her stood Kiryuu Kyousuke, former leader of Team Satisfaction. "Kiryuu." He nodded, to which Kyousuke returned with both a nod and a forced smile, something he still struggled with.

"Took you long enough to wake her up." Misty looked at Carly. "You alright now?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've had enough rest to keep me going for tonight." Nagisa stretched a bit once more and suddenly went on to pat the silver-blue haired fellow former Dark Signer on the head. "Kyou, glad to see you again."

Kiryuu looked amused. "Carly, we just saw each other last night." He reminded her, making Carly laugh nervously.

"Okay, fine. We saw each other last night, but at least this'll be the end of it. No more late night affairs for you starting tomorrow!" at this, Misty chuckled while Kiryuu gave her yet another amused look, though it had the 'uh-right-sure-whatever-you-say' look in it.

Of course, years with Kiryuu taught Jack how to read his facial expressions, as well as the fact that he still had difficulty expressing emotions two years after the events that had reunited Team Satisfaction.

"Let's get going!" Carly said, and the four made their way back to the garage. Kyousuke, Carly and Misty all bid farewell to Team 5D's, with Carly promising the twins to visit them soon at their penthouse in Tops. Several minutes later, all three former Dark Signers made their way out of Poppo Time and into the city.

Carly Nagisa's photo and commercial shoots were about to end, and she was going to give it her all.

* * *

After my exams, I'll follow through with the writing of Chapter 3. I've started with it, but I need to take a break first because I need to study.

Do review and tell me what you think of this chapter! :)


	3. Chapter 3

Oh gosh, so sorry for the delay in updating this. orz I struggled with this chapter because so many ideas came into my mind and, well, I couldn't decide what's the best.

As compensation, here's some 7.5k worth of words for chapter 3. Also, some Kiryuu x Misty. Be warned.

Major thanks again to Jashin for the input. Jack Atlas, so complicated... orz you tsundere blond duelist you. :/

Anyhoo, enjoy!

* * *

Image Change

* * *

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Kiryuu Kyousuke had always wanted to live a quiet life after all that craziness that was becoming a Dark Signer from a year ago, but before he knew it, he had been called out to go back to Neo Domino City by Misty Lola.

He knew her, but didn't know her too well. All they had in common was that both of them had been Dark Signers at one point, but that was it. Other than that, there was nothing else.

Why she had called him out of his hermit lifestyle (he referred to that as such because he was isolated from the people he knew), he had no idea, though was intrigued.

"_Hello, Kiryuu Kyousuke. I'm Misty Lola. You remember me, correct?" by her expression, it seemed that she found it all amusing that they have met, yet acted as if this was their very first meeting. Kiryuu, on the other hand, couldn't seem to express the right emotion, so he decided to don his poker face and nodded._

"_Yes, I do remember."_

"_Sit down, please. We have much to discuss." He had been invited to her classy apartment, and there they were, sitting on her couch. The former leader of Team Satisfaction immediately sat on the couch across from her._

"_Frankly, I do not know why you have suddenly called me." He said._

"_I'll get straight to the point then. Kaiba Corporation is requesting your assistance."_

_It was odd that the most powerful corporation in the world knew him. "What for?"_

"_D-Wheel designs. Carly Nagisa's D-Wheel designs when she was a Dark Signer. You have the design prints in your mind, correct?"_

_For the first time in a long time, he felt anger. "Did you make me go here just to make me remember my sins?" to his surprise, he even managed a glare at the fashion model's direction, which she ignored._

"_I did no such thing. That was never my intention, for this is purely business. Please answer my question."_

"… _Yes, I can still remember the designs vividly." He really was tempted to strangle her pretty little neck for making him remember the sins of his past that he wanted to bury already. "What of it?"_

_Misty cleared her throat. "The Kaiba Corporation will be doing a campaign, which includes D-Wheels. Carly Nagisa has been chosen as the representative, and she needs a D-Wheel. With the designs you'll be drafting, the engineers will built it as soon as possible for the commercial shoot, which will start in one month's time." she said. "For this reason, I am speaking on behalf of the company to request for your assistance."_

"_You're a model. Since when did they ask the supermodel to be their public relations personnel?" even if he was not that educated, he knew the functions of a company well enough. Besides, before Misty Lola became a Dark Signer, he had known of her through printed media. Heck, he even saw her billboards._

_She had the gall to look embarrassed. "I volunteered you for this… I somehow brought this upon myself, since they had no contact details of you. Fudou Yuusei was kind enough to point the direction to me, and as soon as I could do so, I contacted you."_

"_I see." Mentally, he told himself to strangle Yuusei when they meet again, friend or not._

"_Will you help the Kaiba Corporation?" just when he was about to say no, Misty added, "You will be compensated for all the trouble. Transportation, food, lodging… and after this campaign, successful or not, the Corporation will pay you five million yen."_

"_F-five million…" it seemed that the company was fine with throwing money around, but still, five million was enough to help the reconstruction of Satisfaction Town. There was still much left to do and… "That much?"_

"_Is it lacking for you?" Misty asked, and he shook his head quickly._

"_I did not mean that. I'm just shocked at the amount they're willing to give just for blueprints…" he admitted._

_The former female Dark Signer shrugged. "It is shocking, yes, but I expect nothing less from the Corporation."_

_Kyousuke nodded. "And you say that Carly Nagisa will need it for the commercial?" when Misty nodded, he nodded as well. "I'm in."_

_Misty then handed him the contract, and he proceeded to read it word-for-word. Apparently, he was sworn to secrecy about this whole campaign until the press conference, to be held simultaneously with the pre-WRGP party. If he had divulged the details to the press, or to anyone else for that matter, legal action will take place, and he will also be fined a billion yen. All the technicalities were there, and he knew that as long as he kept his mouth shut about this, he will be fine. Kiryuu then proceeded to sign the contract, then handed it to Misty._

"_Would you happen to have some paper? I'd like to get started with the designs."_

_Three months and still counting, he had been spending his time with the supermodel, while in the evenings, he would accompany the said supermodel, as well as Carly Nagisa. Carly, whom he first met during his time as a Dark Signer, remembered him well, and even resorted to calling him 'Kyou', instead of the usual 'Kiryuu'. Personally, it was alright with him, though it felt odd that someone like her was unusually friendly with someone she just met._

"_Carly has always been like that." Misty supplied as soon as she saw his confusion when the dark olive-haired woman had asked if she could call him Kyou. "She makes friends easily. First meeting with me, and we're on first name basis. Same goes with Jack Atlas, and now, you."_

_He raised an eyebrow. "Jack?"_

"_Oh, you didn't know? They were the ones who dueled from way back."_

"_Hmmm…" Kiryuu found it surprisingly that Jack Atlas, former member of Team Satisfaction and the lone wolf in the team, knew Carly. From what he had observed, Carly was warm, bubbly and friendly to everyone she met while Jack was the total opposite. "So they knew each other before the Dark Signer incident?"_

_Misty nodded. "He was the reason why she became a Dark Signer."_

_Kiryuu blinked. "I hope she didn't blame him for pushing her or something…" the scenario was oddly familiar, and he wished that Carly did not become like him who had blamed one of his best friends for his doom._

"_On the contrary, she became a Dark Signer so she could live to see him again."_

'Well, that was certainly strange…'_ Aloud, he said, "So, are they…?" he wanted to continue, but he wasn't sure if it was alright talking about their private lives._

"_They're not." Misty chuckled. "But Team 5D's and myself are rooting for both of them."_

_A ghost of a smile appeared on the silver-bluish haired man's face. "… I see." For now, he would have to observe them from afar._

_

* * *

_

Carly Nagisa's final photoshoot and commercial shoot date was moved to next month.

Circumstances beyond their control had forced the company to extend their commercial, as well as advertisement shoot, but the campaign would still proceed as stated in the timetable. The post-processing of the teaser photos were done, and ready to be posted all over Neo Domino City.

Carly, however, didn't take the news too well, for she was totally stressed out balancing both this stint and her day job as a reporter. "E-extended? W-what about my work…"

The creative director bowed to her. "Our apologies, Miss Nagisa, but because of the circumstances, it is highly impossible for us to wrap everything up tonight." he said apologetically. "I hope you understand…"

She shook her head. "It's no problem. If we do extend until the next month, do we still keep the usual schedule for the commercial shoot? I intend to keep my day job as part of the mass media…"

The director nodded. "Yes, we will still keep the usual hours, but please be advised that it will be more intense than the first three that we did. The creative team and I have decided to add more commercial shoots for the campaign, and it will involve more D-Wheel riding for you." He informed her. "I'm afraid the CEO of the Kaiba Corporation had demanded that we do more for the campaign."

"I see." As expected from Kaiba Seto, the richest and one of the most powerful men in the world. If he wanted more commercials and advertisements, he got it. 'Never' and 'impossible' didn't seem to be part of his vocabulary, since the shoot had gotten extended because of his demands.

'_I don't mind the extension that much, as long as I'm riding a D-Wheel and I can still work for the newspaper…'_

Though she did not outwardly show it, Carly felt the happiest whenever she rode her customized D-Wheel. It reminded her how good it was to feel the wind blowing against her face, though of course, there were drawbacks to it, like sometimes experiencing flashbacks of the first time she rode one.

Particularly her duel with Jack Atlas.

Of course, she felt guilty about the whole thing, but at the same time, she was glad to have dueled with him. Not only did it make everything worthwhile, but she had felt a certain kind of empowerment because she was able to get his attention. He got hurt, yes, but that was to be expected. Duels of Darkness were like that, as she had experienced it once when she and Jack dueled against Ushio.

Carly also learned that no matter how terrible she had been during her time as a Dark Signer, the past is the past. She embraced the fact that she had fed the souls of innocent people to the Earthbound God, though it had took nearly a year for her to finally come into terms with what she did. It was hard, but she had to realize that she couldn't keep on running away, nor can she deny what she had done.

She had grown up indeed.

She was no longer the Carly Nagisa whom everyone bullied because she was a pushover. The new her wasn't like the Dark Signer version either; it was more of a balance of both. She can be meek if she wanted to, but she seriously can still fight back if the need arises. Of course, she still had yet to show that side of hers to anyone…

"For that reason, because we had secured the rights of Jack Atlas' Wheel of Fortune for the commercial and photo shoots, the creative team had an idea!" the creative director was now all smiles. The creative team, the director, her, Kiryuu Kyousuke and Misty Lola were all together in the Duel Stadium, which was lit brightly. Kaiba Corporation, once again, secured the location and made sure that no one was to get near it, nor would it be airborne accessible for the media who wanted a sneak peek.

Of course, all of those security measures were on a 'just-in-case' basis.

"What's the idea?" she wondered. The creative team she worked with was really good, and their concepts were simply amazing. Her experience in the media was limited to the newspapers, and to work with an advertising team, from the Kaiba Corporation, no less, meant she was working with the best agency Neo Domino City had to offer.

_So this is what advertising is all about…_

"Why, you get to wear Jack Atlas's motor suit, of course!"

Suddenly, Carly's jaw dropped open.

Kiryuu's forehead creased.

Misty raised an eyebrow.

'_Are they totally serious?'_

"We got the rights for it, and we altered it to your size!" the creative director looked so excited right now. "It comes with the helmet too!"

The reporter didn't know how she felt right now.

Nervous? Yes.

Happy? Definitely.

Scared? Somewhat.

Disturbed? A bit.

Pressured? Very much so.

"What's the matter, Ms. Nagisa? You don't like the idea?" the creative director looked like he was going to cry if she said that the idea didn't sit well with her.

She shook her head. "I think it's neat." Carly admitted, smiling widely. "Although… will I, uh, yell out some of his lines?" she just had to ask that to mentally prepare herself.

"Great idea! Let's put that in!"

'_SHIT! Me and my big mouth!'_ Panicking, she tried to think of an excuse. "… I can't remember his lines." She lied.

"No problem. We can decide on the lines after we watch the videos of his professional duels!"

Excuses were useless, it seemed. "Oh wait. On second thought, I seem to remember one line of his…"

"Before you say it, why not try on the motor suit then say the line? We can try practicing in front of the camera too, while you're on the D-Wheel." The director handed her the suit and the boots that went with the outfit. "I'll hold on to the helmet for the meantime. Get dressed."

Carly and Misty immediately headed for the dressing room allocated for her in the stadium, where the make-up artist was patiently waiting. "They handed you the suit, huh?" she remarked, smiling at the sight of the familiar motor suit that everyone in the city knew of.

"Yeah…" Carly removed her vest, her familiar stripped shirt and pants and first wore the black collar that Jack also wore. Next came the suit, which she struggled to put on before finally asking help from Misty. When she managed to put on the lower half of it, she zipped it up just below her breasts, where the zipper ends. Unlike the original, where Jack Atlas wore a white leather sleeveless top underneath the suit, Carly wore none, exposing some cleavage because of the low neckline. Despite the embarrassment she felt for wearing an outfit that made her feel so exposed, she proceeded to get dressed by putting on the signature gray boots, the gauntlets and finally, the elbow and kneepads.

"Looking good!" the makeup artist said once Carly was done dressing up and was sitting in front of the mirror for the retouching of her makeup. "It looks perfect on you."

"T-thanks…" frankly, she felt warm, and it wasn't because of the suit.

She was wearing Jack's motor suit (well, not the one he really wore, but it was close).

Somehow, she felt more connected to him than ever.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Carly was back in the racing grounds of the stadium, wearing the modified suit and sitting on the leather seat of the Wheel of Fortune, raised her right hand in the air, forefinger up and yelled, "There is only one King! And that is me!"

"AND… CUT!" at this, the whole creative team burst into laughter, some of them struggling to stay on their feet. The former leader of Team Satisfaction was giving her an amused look while Misty was chuckling as well.

"Uhh…" it seemed like she was the only one who couldn't understand the joke.

"S-sorry… we were just, uh, amazed that your actions, aura and delivery was _exactly_ like Jack Atlas'. It's as if you're the female version of him, motor suit and all." explained one of the members of the creative team, who was also the first to stop laughing.

"Oh-kaaaay…?" personally, even she was creeped out with the comment.

Was she _that_ good? Judging from their laughter, as well as the comment, it sounded like she hit the nail on the impersonation of the former King. It was to be expected, however, for she had been somewhat of a fan of him, though not a rabid fangirl. She was a fan, plain and simple, and she admired him from afar.

'_Yeah, and you love him.'_ the evil voice from her head said.

Ah, yes, her current dilemma…

After the craziness she had experienced for the past year, things went back to normal when she got revived along with the rest, except for one small thing: she had lost her memories during her time as a Dark Signer. In contrast to Misty Lola, a fellow Dark Signer, she knew _nothing_ about that period in her life.

True, it was alright to act as if nothing had happened because of amnesia. After all, ignorance is bliss, but when a certain blond man starts acting weird around you, something was definitely wrong.

Among all members of Team 5D's, it was only _he _who was acting as if she was a stranger and not a friend. Heck, he did not even treat her as an acquaintance, which bothered her very much. Despite her pleading him to tell her about her becoming the enemy, he refused, saying, "There is nothing to talk about".

She knew something was up, and she was going to get to the bottom of it all. Despite being swamped with paperwork at that time (it was the WRGP, after all), Carly strived to trigger her lost memories by retracing her steps back to the nearly-destroyed Arcadia Movement building located in the center of Neo Domino City.

Before she could even start on it, however, on the day she was supposed to start, her memories came rushing back to her.

All she did was wake up that morning, and then…

Well, suffice to say, she had called in sick to her office because of information overload.

Every single nitty-gritty detail of her duel with Divine made its way to her brain. She remembered everything: how Divine had managed to read her emotions quickly by commenting that she was in love, how she had _actually_ imagined herself having a baby with Jack Atlas (at this, she turned a cherry red), how she had lost that duel and finally, getting thrown out of the building and falling to her death.

The second time she dueled with him, she was oozing with confidence that she seemed not like her old self. She was totally cocky, showing no remorse, and definitely in possession of a backbone. As Divine did not take her seriously, he paid dearly for the consequences by experiencing a literal downfall that led to his "death". Later, she would learn that he came back from the dead, only to be finished once and for all when Misty had used her signature Earthbound God to devour him.

When her thirst for revenge had abated, and she finally realized what she had done, she cried and called out for Jack Atlas to save her, which, of course, made her cringe when she realized what she did a year ago. It seemed that her old self was much too reliant on her white prince on a white D-Wheel to save her, which made her feel so embarrassed of herself.

What was more embarrassing was that she broke down in front of Misty Lola and latched herself upon the older woman's shoulder and cried herself to exhaustion.

Terrible things to do when one's age was considered an adult, but one's mental maturity was still that of a naïve child, now that she thought about it carefully.

Carly Nagisa accepted everything she had done in the past wholeheartedly, though it was a slow and sometimes painful process.

It wasn't easy to accept the fact that you had hurt other people to gain something in return, nor was it easy to swallow the fact that she nearly killed someone…

It bothered her, but it was something she couldn't run away from, nor deny.

It was a fact.

Now, the only thing she hadn't addressed yet was her feelings for Jack Atlas.

She admitted to him that she was in love with him, even calling him her beloved when he chased her and pulled down her hood. And she remembered him confessing as well. During their Running Duel, he said everything already, save for a confession. She would already count that as Jack Atlas declaring his love for her, for his pride had know no heights and yet…

Yes, he knew she lost her memories, but to act indifferent towards her?

She was fine with him becoming indifferent, but to act as if they had never been friends? He treated her not as a friend, but an irritating acquaintance, which certainly had stung.

Did it also mean that he wasn't in love with her anymore…?

Did it—

"Carly?"

At once, she snapped out of her thoughts. "Y-yes?"

It was Kiryuu who had called snapped her from her reverie. "You've been spacing out. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just… remembered something." She gave out one of her bland smiles and gave out a sigh. "So, what else…?"

"Let's wrap it up for tonight." The creative director announced, which surprised the three of them. It was only ten in the evening, and more often than not, the commercial shoots were done around the wee hours of the morning, between five to six. "We can start again on Monday. You have two full days to rest, Ms. Nagisa, so I hope you are ready by Monday night again."

"You bet!" at this, she hopped off the Wheel of Fortune and stretched. "Two days of rest and relaxation, and I'll be as good as new!"

The creative director chuckled. "Glad to hear. I'll be looking forward to it. Now, if you'll excuse me…" with that, he and the members of the creative team began to fix up the whole stadium, such as taking the Wheel of Fortune and storing it for the meantime in the warehouse portion of the building.

Carly herself headed off to the allocated dressing room and discarded her white motor suit for her usual stripped three-fourths shirt, her jacket, three-fourths pants and sneakers. The night was still young, so all three of them agreed to go out and eat at the nearby ramen store. However, when she got out of the dressing room after freshening up, Misty suddenly begged off from the night out and said that she wanted to go home and sleep instead.

With that, all three of them headed off to the taxi stand where they saw her off. After the two women gave each other a hug, Misty proceeded to pat Kiryuu on the shoulder. Carly noticed that the two seemed uncomfortable and awkward with each other, and what gave it away was the fact that Kiryuu was _blushing_.

BLUSHING.

'_I'd better ask him what's up.'_

_

* * *

_

"Kyou… did something happen between you and Misty?"

On their way to the ramen house, those words were the first thing she asked.

"Can we… not talk about that for the meantime?" he asked.

"Oh, umm… okay. Sorry."

Both of them were silent until they had reached the restaurant, and as soon they had sat down and had their orders taken, she changed the topic to at least lighten the mood and take his mind off what she had just asked.

She needed to ask him about something anyway.

"Kyou, sorry for my question earlier." She said.

He, in return, shook his head. "No, it's fine… I'm not myself right now, forgive me."

"If it's not too much, I'd like to ask you another question." She waited for his reaction, and when he wordlessly told her to proceed, she took a stab at the opportunity.

"Kyou, please tell me more about Jack."

To say that Kiryuu Kyousuke was surprised was an understatement. He did know Jack from way back, and he also knew what was going on between her and him because of Misty (at this, he cringed inwardly), but for her to ask him directly about his former teammate confirmed that there really was something going on.

He let out a small smile. "Sure, why not."

"T-thanks… ummm… well… I just can't seem to understand him."

"I think it's a standard thing that women can't seem to understand men and vice-versa." He said, humor etched on his face. "Kidding aside, I admit that he really is a complex person. Even from way back, when he, Crow, Yuusei and I were part of Team Satisfaction."

"Team Satisfaction?"

"Yes. In Satellite, nearly everyone was in the brink of despair. Somehow, we knew that we had to be happy with what we have, as there was no escape from Satellite." He sighed. "I've gone too far with my acts, and before I knew it, we broke up. Jack and Crow left, but Yuusei stayed behind."

Carly nodded. "I see…"

"I'm not familiar with the events after that because of circumstances that prevented me from seeing my former teammates again, but all I can tell you is that Jack is someone who doesn't outwardly show his true feelings." He stated. "True, he can outwardly show contempt, arrogance and even anger, but no one knows the real him from the team."

"He's that complex?"

"Something like that…" Kiryuu said. "Though, I've been hearing… things that someone had managed to break all his barriers and got through him."

Carly felt uneasy all of a sudden. "Who?" she asked tightly.

"You." He said bluntly

She did a double take and nearly fell off her seat. "W-what? That's impossible!"

"On the contrary, according to Yuusei and Crow, you changed him for the better."

She felt her cheeks turn red again from embarrassment. That was totally unexpected, and no matter how much she wanted to say out loud that Kiryuu was a liar for telling her such, he sounded so sincere. "I-if that's the case, then good for him."

A light smirk tugged on his lips. "All thanks to you. As the former leader of Team Satisfaction, I thank you with all my heart for turning a member of the group into something less of a total jackass towards his friends." he completed his speech with a mock bow, all the while trying to keep his expression serious and neutral, but failing to do so. Carly didn't bother containing her laughter as she let out a hearty chuckle at what the silver-blue haired older man did.

After her laughter subside, their ramen was served, and both ate heartily, with Kiryuu teasing her about his former teammate, amused that anything he said that was connected to the blond made her stutter and turn red.

"You know, this whole thing makes me feel like I have a younger sister whom I can tease whenever I want."

"Me, your younger sister?" Carly raised an eyebrow at this. "_Onii-chan_, that's weird." She played along.

"It's fine, little sister, try harder to be cute." He teased back.

"Oh, shush."

The night ended with both of them becoming siblings of sorts. Kiryuu knew that he didn't quite fit the older brother role, but he'll try hard for Carly's sake. She needed someone to help her navigate through the very complex and complicated mind of Jack Atlas, and if that was the case, Kiryuu Kyousuke told himself to talk to both Fudou Yuusei and Crow Hogan as soon as he can so they could create a plan.

Aside from Carly not knowing how to deal with Jack Atlas, the blond duelist himself was dense, not to mention too arrogant and too 'high up' to ask help from anyone.

'_If he doesn't need our help, we'll do it anyway.'_ Kiryuu told himself, smiling slightly at the thought. _'If not him, then Carly does.'_

_

* * *

_

Saturday morning arrived, and Carly's alarm clock for the day happened to be her telephone. Still groggy, she marched over to her living room and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Carly, it's Jack."

Suddenly, she dropped the phone and let out a squeak. Realizing her mistake, she bends down to pick it up again. "S-sorry, I just got… startled." She added the last word lamely.

She heard him sigh, and she guessed that he was exasperated with her clumsiness.. "Are you free right now? The twins suddenly decided to have a swimming party at their penthouse and you're invited."

"Oh, cool! What time?"

"They said around lunch time."

She glanced at the clock, which read 11:30. "Okay then. The whole team is going?"

"Yes. Misty begged off, but Kiryuu will be there."

Her heart soared at the thought of Kiryuu going. At least she won't feel so left out, nor would she feel uncomfortable around Jack with Kiryuu watching over her. Despite the fact that they worked together for three months, yesterday was the defining moment of their relationship as 'siblings'. Secrets were shared, with Kiryuu finally admitting to her the reason why he was not himself last night. It turned out that he was crushing on the supermodel that had recruited him to make the blueprints for the campaign, and he had no idea how to act around her. He told Carly about their awkward moments, such as Misty suddenly hugging him whenever she got too excited during Carly's successful shoots, and her absentmindedly kissing his cheek when she greeted him one evening. She remembered chuckling when she saw him turn red as a tomato when he finally said, "Yes, I like Misty. Happy?" to her, then facefaulted at what he just said out loud.

"Oh, okay then. Will you be swimming?" as soon as the words came out of her mouth, she suddenly imagined him in board shorts, complete with the sun shining down on him to show off his oiled body, which was completely toned. Carly nearly smacked herself for thinking of such.

He gave out a huff. "No. The kids can swim all they want, but I'm not joining."

Well, that was disappointing. "Oh, okay then. I guess I won't swim too." She heard herself say.

"Suit yourself." Without even saying goodbye, he hung up. At this, she rolled her eyes, wondering why she was even attracted to someone as rude as him.

'_Because he confessed that he loves you.'_ Her brain told her haughtily, make her stop in her tracks. Placing her hands over her cheeks, she felt the warmth under her palms, then cursed herself for inconveniently distracting her when she was already running late!

Making a mental list of simply bringing some snacks for them to share, she checked the cupboards of the kitchen to check the items she can bring and what she can buy at the convenient store before heading off to the penthouse. To her relief, Carly managed to find three huge bags of potato chips and stuffed it in her backpack. Taking a notepad from the counter, she listed a number of beverages to get at the store as not to forget it.

As soon as she was done listing down the items she needed to buy, the phone rang again. Carly ran over to the telephone and picked up the handset. "Hello?"

"Carly-neesan, bring your duel disk, your deck and your swimsuit! Let's have a duel!" came a young boy's enthusiastic voice.

"Okay, I get the duel disk and deck part, but why a swimsuit? I won't be swimming today." Somehow, she had an inkling as to what will happen, but she wanted to be sure…

"The loser gets pushed to the pool, of course!"

Ah, she just had to ask. "… Okay…? Uh, sure, why not." As much as she did not feel like swimming today, she knew that a duel with penalties will be fun.

Besides, she _did _want to swim anyway, even if it was late spring, and the weather was still cold enough to make someone ill.

"Great! Please come over here as soon as possible, okay? Bye!" with that, the line went dead, and Carly sighed, rushing to her bedroom once more to pack her swimming gear.

* * *

When Carly got to the penthouse after dropping by the convenience store to get the beverages, she knew that she was late. The members of Team 5D's were already in the living room, laughing and conversing with each other, while Kiryuu, sitting among them, looked on with interest and amusement. Carrying all of her bulky stuff with both hands, she deposited the food and beverages on the empty side table. "Hello, everyone." She greeted.

Everyone turned to look at her, and Rua jumped up from his couch, nearly tackling her to the ground. "Carly-neesan, are you ready?" he screamed.

"Rua, you nearly ran over Carly-neesan." His twin sister sighed. "What if she fell down?"

"Well, she didn't, so everything's fine!" he shot back.

Unfortunately, his reasoning didn't work. "Rua, stop tackling people." Jack Atlas, who had been watching Carly intently ever since she got to the penthouse, spoke up. "If she fell and hit her head…"

Suddenly, the living room became too cold.

Not wanting to anger his idol further, Rua gulped and said, "S-sorry, 'nee-san…" he said meekly.

She shook her head. "It's fine." She told him. "Oh, and Rua, did you just devour a jar of candies again?" normal Rua was easy enough to handle, but a sugar-rushed Rua was… well… a challenge.

He shook his head. "No, I'm just excited for our duel! You brought your duel disk, right?"

"Yes, I did." she glanced at the standard disk she owned, which was lying on the floor.

"Then let's go to the pool area!" he then took her hand and began tugging her towards the sliding doors that led to the garden. "Hurry!"

"What's going on?" Yuusei asked.

"Carly-neesan and I will duel! The loser gets pushed to the pool!" he announced.

Jack turned to them once again. "I thought you weren't going to swim."

"Y-yeah, but Rua wanted to duel with me and the loser gets to be thrown to the pool…"

He rolled his eyes. "You're such a kid."

"Well excuse me for wanting to have fun!" she replied sarcastically.

Rua pointedly ignored the fact that they were about to start an argument, for he was too engrossed with starting the duel. "Come on everyone, let's go outside!" at this, everyone stood up and began walking towards the sliding doors leading to the pool.

"Just a minute, Rua. Can I at least greet everyone here before we proceed?"

The male twin pouted. "Fine. Go and greet them."

Somewhat scared that Rua might suddenly grab her again and pull her towards the pool area, she launched herself at Izayoi Aki and Ruka, giving both girls a hug. After the pleasantries, she went over to Kiryuu and, to everyone's shock, gave him a tight hug.

"Hey there." She greeted him. "Too bad Misty isn't here, huh?" she said quietly, only enough for the two of them to hear. At once, the pale man turned red and tried to glare at her, which only made her laugh. "Kidding. I'll shut up for the meantime, _big brother_."

"_Little sister_, tease me one more time, and I'll throw you at Jack."

This time, it was her turn to blush. "You wouldn't dare."

He smirked in reply. "Oh, I would. Try me."

She punched him lightly in the arm in reply.

"Rua is waiting." He told her. "Go and greet the others."

"Carly-neesan, let's start already!" the male twin was about to run towards her, and in her panic, she hauled herself to the person next to Kiryuu.

To her embarrassment, it had been Jack Atlas. Because she had thrown all of her weight at him, it ended with both of them on the floor. The positioning too was quite awkward: her on top, her face pressed closely against his chest, while her tummy somehow found itself between his legs. Jack, on the other hand, was on the bottom, his back against the cold, hard floor. He had even hit his head on the throw pillow that had fallen from the couch before landing with a _thud_.

The blond duelist tried hard not to think about how her breasts were pressing against his torso, yet failed to do so, for he felt a certain part of his body getting hard…

"Carly, get off me." He commanded.

At once, she got up, apologizing profusely to him before he got up and raised a hand. "It's fine… just don't do it again."

Well, he _did_ want a repeat of such, but only when they were alone and…

He willed the evil thoughts away before it could even continue.

Sometimes, he really hated the way hormones took control of his logic.

After the embarrassing scene, she then turned to greet both Yuusei and Crow, who both acknowledged her with a nod. With all of the formalities done, the reporter walked over to the spot where she dropped her stuff and took out the items she needed: the duel disk and a leather case that contained her deck, which she clipped around her waist.

"Let's go!"

* * *

With the rest of Team 5D's and Kiryuu watching from the sidelines, the two were ready to start their duel.

"Before anything else, Rua, I'd like to do something first." Seeing his confused expression, she began her explanation. "I'll just draw a card and see what my fortune is for today. I… kinda forgot to do that earlier."

"Okay then!"

Smiling, she removed her deck from the leather case, spread the cards a bit and drew one card among the pile, reading her fortune to herself. "Fortune Fairy An-chan… 'Your fortune the day you draw this card is unhappy.'." at this, she cringed.

'_Crap, I hope it's not _that_ unhappy…'_

"Okay, I'm good. Sorry for the wait." Just before she was about to slip on her duel disk, Izayoi Aki spoke up.

"Carly, wouldn't you want to remove your clothes first before dueling? It'll be easier for you to move around in your swimsuit, and easier for us to push you in the pool if you lose." the red head joked.

"Yeah, Carly-neesan, you should be ready for anything!" Rua agreed.

The weather was cold, and as much as she wanted to keep her clothes on for the meantime, it would be unfair to Rua, for he was already dressed in his blue board shorts. She, on the other hand, was still wearing an oversized shirt and shorts to cover up her swimsuit and to keep her warm as well.

"Well, okay then…" She placed her duel disk beside her, turned around and began to take off her oversized clothing, revealing an orange bandeau-style bikini top and azure boyshorts. When she turned around to face them again, Aki actually raised an eyebrow.

"Nice body, Carly. I'm envious!"

Immediately, the eyeglass-wearing woman turned red. "W-what?"

"It's nothing." Aki said sweetly, casting a knowing smirk at her blond teammate, who avoided her gaze and found the nearby potted plant interesting for the meantime.

After securing her duel disk on her left arm, Carly asked, "Rua, do you want me to hold back?"

"Heck no!" this was his chance to show both Yuusei and Jack just how strong he has become. "Give it all you got, nee-san!"

At this, she smirked, somehow reminding Jack of her Dark Signer self. "Is that right… okay then. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Bring it on!"

* * *

In the end, Carly Nagisa won the duel.

Despite the fact that her cards were subpar compared the Rua's, she still had the luck of the draw, for she had managed to pick the right cards for their duel, while Rua ended up drawing the wrong cards at the wrong time. This resulted in Carly having the advantage over him with her Fortune Ladies, who gained 200 attack points each standby phase. Even with the advantage, she was still hit hard by the cards that Rua used, and by the end of the duel, she had only a thousand life points left.

"Awww, darn it! I got unlucky with my draws…!" the blue-green haired male was still pouting while he removed his duel disk.

'_Thank the cards he didn't get the nice ones, or else…'_ Carly sighed in relief as she herself removed her duel disk and placed it on the table by the poolside. "Cheer up, Rua, we can still duel the next time around." She then took off her glasses and placed it beside her duel disk.

"Y-yeah, but…!" he pouted cutely, which made her chuckle.

"Cheer up." without warning, she grabbed him by wrapping her arms around his torso.

"W-wait, what are you doing, 'nee-san?" suddenly, Rua began hitting her, wanting to get out of her grip, but failed to do so.

"PUNISHMENT TIME!" she screamed before taking a huge leap towards the middle of the pool, making a huge splash in the process. Rua kept screaming out loud, attracting the others, particularly Ruka and Aki, who then proceeded to go to the edge of the pool to check up on them. Their concern was unfounded when seconds later, Carly resurfaced, Rua still in her arms, laughing loudly.

" 'Nee-san, that was mean! I wasn't ready!"

She rolled her eyes at him. "I thought you said that 'you should be ready for anything'? Hmmm?" she prodded, earning a sheepish look from him. "Thought so." with that, she held him again and sank herself again for a few seconds before resurfacing again, laughing. Rua, on the other hand, was clinging onto Carly's neck for dear life.

"Rua… don't tell me you can't swim."

"I-I can swim!"

"Don't lie to me." She said sternly.

"… Yes, I can't." he admitted.

"No worries, Rua. Just wrap your arms around my neck." With those magic words, the younger boy clinged onto her while they were in the pool, never letting go, even for a second. This earned him a teasing from his sister, as well as Aki, who both joined the two after they finished eating the snacks that Carly brought with her.

"I'm getting hungry… Rua, wanna eat too? Or do you want to stay in the pool with Ruka?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm going with you!"

Carly blinked at his sudden outburst. "Umm… okay…?" heading for the ladder, she let Rua out first before herself, then headed to where the boys were. Grabbing a bag of potato chips, she opened it, then offered some to Rua, who eagerly began munching the snack.

Crow noted that she was drenched. "I thought it was only Rua who was going to be pushed?"

She laughed. "I grabbed him and jumped off. He kept clinging onto me though." At this, Rua blushed in embarrassment.

"You don't know how to swim?" Yuusei asked the younger boy. When he shook his head no, Yuusei pressed on. "Then why did you duel Carly with that penalty agreement?"

"I-I thought I was going to win!"

"Idiot." Came Jack's stern voice. "You thought you were going to win? You're _that_ confident? You lost the duel, and as punishment, you had to be pushed into the pool. What if she pushed you without warning?"

"W-well, she did but…"

"It's fine." She told them. "I… got my revenge already. And I made sure he was going to be pushed in the not so deep end of the pool. I was holding onto him tightly when we jumped…"

Jack shook his head. "It's not fine. What if both of you drowned?"

"Well, we didn't."

"Stop arguing with me and just listen." He told her hotly.

"I'm not arguing with you, I'm stating a fact." She replied calmly. "And I'm listening. Stop snapping at me!"

Suddenly, blue-gray eyes met amethyst colored ones, and both glared at each other. Crow, Yuusei, Kiryuu and Rua all turned to look at each other, puzzled with the fact that the two were _arguing_. Before, Carly would always agree with what Jack said, but this time around, she was _actually_ fighting back.

"And you, you said you wouldn't be swimming." He said, pointing at her. "What's with that outfit?"

"What the hell is your problem if I wanted to swim?" Carly looked like she really wanted to strangle him, but restrained herself from doing so. "You're not my boyfriend, so don't tell me what I should and shouldn't do!"

When Carly turned to look at Kiryuu Kyousuke, he gave her a look that said, 'you shouldn't have said that'. Upon her confused expression, the silver-blue haired man made a gesture wherein he ran a forefinger over his throat.

'… _Oh crap, did I just anger him…?' _ was the look she sent Kiryuu, who suddenly looked grim. Gulping a bit, she looked back at Jack's face, and he looked like he really wanted to murder her on the spot. Apparently, it didn't sit well with him the fact that she had the gall to scream and argue with him.

"Fine, suit yourself." With that, he stood up and walked back inside the living room, obviously fuming.

"… What's up with him?" Carly screamed in frustration as soon as he was out of earshot. "He made it sound like everything was all my fault! What the hell did I do?"

All three members of Team Satisfaction gave each other exasperated looks.

Carly Nagisa seriously needed help in decoding Jack Atlas' mind.

* * *

Whew, that was like... a whole wall of text, huh? orz

I do hope you'll review and tell me what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

I'm so sorry for the late update. orz

I got distracted with real life stuff (cosplay, videogames and the like), and I only managed to finish this right now. Not my best chapter, as I've had too many ideas and ended up with 6 versions. orz I picked this one over the others because I think it's not that cliche. Apologies if this chapter wasn't at par with my previous three, for I really was itching to post this so you all can read it immediately before I get swamped with work.

I do hope you'll still enjoy this chapter though! :)

* * *

Image Change

* * *

**Chapter 4**

* * *

Jack Atlas, truth to be told, had never felt this level of anger in his life until recently, when he had that argument with Carly Nagisa. Sure, he had a very short fuse, and his friends knew when not to push the buttons and get him more agitated. So when he had to deal with _her_, she had no idea that arguing back with him was tantamount to getting screamed at, or maybe even getting punched at. Of course, because Carly was a woman, he had to restrain himself from lashing out at her.

Just when he was about to calm down, she just had to tell him that _he had no right_ to tell her what to do, and he was _not her boyfriend!_

Something snapped inside him, which was a first, and before he could actually get his hands on her for _yelling_ at him, he stormed back to the living room, feeling both frustrated and _slightly_ hurt at what she said.

He may have sound illogical with his reasoning, but he _did not_ want her to know the real reason why he blew off.

'_Yes Carly, I forbid you from swimming because most of the people in the swimming party are guys, and even if they're my best friends, they can still see you half-naked prancing around by the pool. Oh, and I wasn't totally prepared with seeing you in a bikini. You should've told me sooner so I could prepare myself physically and mentally to see you in something that doesn't hide your… assets.'_

He really hated it when other people got to see her in that swim suit that did nothing to hide her body. Jack Atlas didn't want to admit it to anyone, but he was very much possessive when it came to everything in general. Like the time when he was rather possessive with cup ramen, as well as with his title as the King of Running Duels. When Yuusei came along and had suddenly beaten the crap out of him, he was so frustrated with himself, though not on par with what he currently felt right now. During that time, all he was obsessed about was regaining his title, and then _she_ came along, destroying _everything_ he had been planning to do to regain his title.

Of course, he only realized that when Sagiri Mikage, his former assistant, spoke to him about it.

"_Jack, remember when you lost the Fortune Cup?"_

_Nearly half a year ago, he and Mikage met by chance in the café where he always got his Blue-Eyes Mountain coffee. While he was there to relax, she was out to buy some pastries for her and Ushio Tetsu, her current partner. When they saw each other, she was the first to greet him, calling him by his first name instead of the usual 'Atlas-sama', which somehow relieved him, because the 'Atlas-sama' reminded him of the time when he was still a manipulative jerk. As she waited for her pastries, she sat across him and did all the talking, updating him of what she was doing (she was dating Ushio and her life in Sector Security was like an adventure) until she posed him the aforementioned sentence._

"_Yes, I do." Somehow, it didn't bother him _that much_ anymore with regards to that duel._

"_Yes, well… about that…" she hesitated, fiddling with the hem of her skirt, but ceased it at once when she found the courage to speak up again. "At that time, Ushio and I were following you around the amusement park just to see what Carly was planning." At his glare, she continued, "Don't get me wrong; I was concerned because she was, is, part of the media, and at that time, they were looking for you."_

"_And?"_

"_When you stood in that tower balcony all alone, Ushio and I were ready to confront you… until Carly came along and managed to get through you." At this, Mikage smiled. "I have to admit, I was surprised that for someone whom you just met at that time, she managed to get through you, compared to someone like me, an assistant of yours who has worked for you for some years."_

"_What's your point?"_

"_Carly Nagisa had managed to break you out of your obsession with becoming a King in name only." She explained. "That was all there was to you before Fudou Yuusei had beaten you. You were King, but restricted by Director Goodwin to do his bidding. When she came along, she had set you free from the role that was given to you, and now you're free to do what you want while still retaining the impression and feel of regality."_

He didn't want to admit it to himself, but Sagiri Mikage had said the truth.

Carly broke _everything_ he had believed in, and had managed to snap him out of his dark mood, which was nearly bordering to depression. The fact that she had managed to get through him was impressive, and where others have failed, she had succeeded.

Frankly, it scared him.

She was getting too close.

Too close to his heart, if one had to be blunt about it, and so, he decided that it was best if he pushed her away. He did not want her to get hurt, nor did he want her to experience abandonment like what he did with the people whom he had known all his life. If Jack had managed to do it to the people whom he had practically grew up with, what more with Carly Nagisa, a pure-hearted girl whom he just met, whose spirit never wavered nor broke even when the going got tough?

Of course, when he had pushed her too far, he had to bear the consequences of his actions.

The only consolation he had was the fact that she had been revived along with the other Dark Signers, though she had lost her memories.

He had dealt with that amnesia thing, but her fighting back and actually having the nerve of defying him?

It was nearly unheard of.

Since when was she the type to fight back, and against him even?

It was so unlike her to do so, and at the back of his mind, he wondered if her dark side was slowly consuming her without her knowing…? He _slightly_ panicked at the thought of her turning into a Carly Nagisa who had the personality of her Dark Signer self, as he was not ready to deal with someone who was the complete opposite of the sweet and pure-hearted Carly. Who knew what mayhem she could cause?

'_Mayhem? You mean what she could cause to your sanity, or to your… feelings?'_ a haughty voice in his head asked.

Why was everything so complicated now?

He rubbed his temples and sighed, slumping back on the couch.

Damn it all.

* * *

"… Why are you all looking at me so intently?"

When Ruka and Aki noticed that both her and Rua were not going to return anytime soon, they had gotten out of the pool to get snacks, only to witness a screaming (on Carly's part) match between their female friend and their teammate. When Jack had walked out on the argument, which greatly amused Aki, both girls went over to where they were, and came just in time to hear Carly complain about Jack's irrational behavior.

Yuusei was the first to speak up. "As a childhood friend of his, that was the first time I saw him flare up over something. I've never seen him get so pissed before, other than the time he nearly beaten me to death for getting that cup ramen that had his name written on the lid and the cup itself…" he spoke, amusement evident in his tone.

"Oh, I remember that! And he was crying so much while punching you! He kept screaming, 'MARTHA, MARTHA, YUUSEI ATE MY CUP RAMEN!' while strangling you, tears and snot coming out of his face." Crow then howled in laughter at the memory, while it made Yuusei smirk. Kiryuu, on the other hand, laughed as well, as he had been a witness to the altercation. Izayoi found it a bit disturbing, but knew that it was actually possible that Jack could get worked up over a cup ramen.

"Martha?" Carly asked.

"She's like our mom." Crow filled in. "She's the only one who can make Jack bend down on his knee, literally. You must meet her."

Carly smiled for the first time since the fight. "I definitely will. When can I go see her?"

"If you're not busy, you can see her anytime. Just tell me or Yuusei. We'll take you to her." Crow was now smirking, delighted with the fact that he can one-up Jack again.

"Uh, right… anyway, I think I'd better go. I just ruined the mood and—" before she could even continue, Rua had grabbed her arm. "Rua?"

"No, don't go, 'nee-san. Let Jack be the grumpy old guy."

"B-but…" even if she was pissed at him, she was still concerned with the fact that the party had been ruined partially because of her outburst.

"It's fine, really." Ruka reassured her. "Besides, I know you and Jack can patch things up soon!"

Immediately, Carly tried to rectify the situation. "I'm not in a relationship with him!"

"Huh? You're not? Why?" Rua asked immediately. "It'll be totally cool if you guys get together!"

At this, she blinked, totally at a loss for words at what Rua was insinuating. If the youngest members of the team thought that they were a couple, that sounded as if the whole team knew as well. Maybe, they may be the vocal ones, and the rest of the team just didn't care.

"Little sister, by your confused look, I take it that you're still puzzled over Jack's behavior?" Kiryuu spoke up, looking at Carly, who then nodded in response. He then looked at both Yuusei and Crow, saying, "Okay, she seriously needs help."

"Help on what?"

"Help on decoding Jack Atlas."

She shrugged. "Fine. Maybe it can help me determine his moods or something…" seriously, he was worse than a woman who was suffering from the usual time of the month.

"Great!" Kiryuu was suddenly all smiles. "First off: Jack is very possessive."

"Obviously, from the cup ramen incident." She said.

"In general. And when I mean in general, that includes _you_."

She raised an eyebrow. "E-excuse me…?" now this was getting weird.

"He got pissed because we saw you in your swim suit." Yuusei filled in.

"What the hell." She exclaimed. "It's just you guys! We're all friends, and obviously, not one of you boys here are interested in me. At least, none that I know of." Crow rolled his eyes at her for even insinuating that he was interested in her, Yuusei donned on a poker face, while Kiryuu rolled his eyes at her.

"Even with friends, he is not willing to share. Remember the cup ramen incident? Even if Yuusei is his best friend, he didn't hesitate to hurt him." Kiryuu explained smoothly. "Why do you think he blew off for no good reason? It's because we saw you in your swim suit, and he thinks one or all of us have an interest in you."

She glared at him. "What? It's not as if I'm in love with any of you…" at this, she turned red, realizing what she had nearly confessed.

"Ooh, not in love with Crow, Yuusei or Kiryuu. Does that mean you love Jack?" came the curious yet excited question from Rua.

"T-that's not what I meant! I—" Well, what did she meant?

Was it painfully obvious that she was attracted to their teammate?

When she looked at each and every one of them, Team 5D's and Kiryuu Kyousuke were still looking at her so intently. Dare she shared this secret of hers to them…?

'_Ah, heck. It's so obvious, even my "older brother" has an inkling, and he has been isolated from nearly everything since last year!' _she thought to herself, mentally noting that whatever happens, she would herself responsible for sharing a personal thing to a big group.

"Well…?" Aki was the first to break the silence.

She braced herself. _'Here goes.'_ "… Yes, fine. I _like_ him. And when I say 'him', 'him' means Jack Atlas." At this, Ruka squealed, which was very unlike her to do so, which her twin imitated, though it sounded more like an ecstatic shout. Aki was grinning from ear to ear, while all three of the former members of Team Satisfaction gave out a variety of expressions: Crow gave out a knowing smirk, Yuusei himself was smiling a bit, while Kiryuu looked like an overjoyed brother whose sister had finally found true love.

She never expected Kiryuu to have such an expression, since more often than not, it was limited from neutral to pensive. This time around, he looked so happy with himself that he stood up, grabbed her and twirled her around, his arms wrapped around her waist. "Finally, you admitted it!"

Carly chose not to say anything, though her red cheeks had said it all. She was more embarrassed with the fact that Kiryuu Kyousuke, former leader of Team Satisfaction, was acting like the role of an older brother and was twirling her around for everyone to see than her admitting to them all about her feelings for Jack. "Umm, Kiryuu, please put me down…?"

"Okay, okay." With a laugh, he placed her feet back to the ground and sat down again. "Sorry for that… I was just…"

"Overjoyed?" Carly supplied.

He nodded. "Yeah. I mean, when you and him get together, maybe he'll stop being an asshole." at this, the three boys nodded in agreement.

"Err, right…" personally, she didn't even want to start a relationship with him…

'_Liar. You wanted to be his wife at one point and be the world's first husband-wife duelist pair.'_

It was a stupid memory, one that she longed to bury deep inside her mind, but to no avail. Repeatedly, the thought would come up, distracting her from what she was doing. Worse, the thought has been coming up lately ever since she had been hanging out in 5D's place, as well as during her shoots. Anything that was connected to Jack made her think of that particular memory and at times made her wonder if it was a vision of her future.

Hastily, she pushed the thought aside and grabbed a bag of chips, munching on the snack.

"Let's get back on topic, shall we?" Kiryuu announced.

"Rule number two: he'll get jealous of any guy you're with, regardless if your relationship with him is platonic." Crow said, eyeing both the silver blue-haired man and Nagisa. "And I do mean the both of you."

"I disagree." Carly spoke up. "He didn't look jealous to me."

Kiryuu chuckled. "Oh, he looked like he wanted to punch me earlier when you hugged me. I just had to keep my expression neutral so I wouldn't get hurt. Any grin or even a glance sent his way while you were hugging me is enough to trigger a temper tantrum from him."

"Why?"

It was Yuusei who answered. "If Jack doesn't get what he wants, he'll either throw a tantrum or be a total asshole about it. Earlier, he had to stop himself from throwing a tantrum in front of you, and instead acted like a total asshole. The walkout, remember?"

Goodness, why was he so complex? "Yes." Suddenly, she rubbed her temples. "This whole thing is giving me a headache..."

"Rule number three: he's too much of a coward to make a move on you."

Well, that was… surprising. The former King of Running Duels, the same one who was so arrogant, acting all high and mighty, was… scared of any attempts to make a move on her? She wondered if they were still talking about Jack Atlas or an entirely different person…

"… Are you suggesting that I should be the one to make a move?" she certainly did not want to lower herself and do the chasing. She wasn't _that_ desperate.

Yuusei shrugged. "Why not? Knowing him, he'll appreciate it."

Carly took this to heart. If that's the case…

"I'll help you out whenever I can." Kiryuu volunteered. "My little sister can't do this alone."

"Errr, thanks, Kyou." She said, praying to a deity that she didn't make the wrong decision of confiding her love life to a group whom she wasn't particularly close with, but had been willing to listen to her. Heck, they had even given her advice, and the three guys whom Jack knew since his childhood (in Yuusei and Crow's case) and his teenage life (in Kiryuu's case) had helped her 'decode' his very complex personality.

"Last one. Rule number four." It was Aki who spoke up this time around. "He can't express his feelings clearly, so I suggest that you do a subtle move, which can also send your point across to him to firmly establish where your relationship stands right now."

That one, she easily understood. All she had to do was give him a sign that everything was dandy between them, whether it was about their argument earlier or the vague relationship they were in.

"Well, that's that." She said, standing up from the chair. "What time is it right now?"

Kiryuu flipped open his mobile phone. "Four-thirty."

"I'll go make dinner! Is that okay with everyone?" she asked them.

"Umm, we haven't stocked anything… we usually have take outs, Ruka and I." said the male twin, looking a bit embarrassed with the fact that both of them couldn't cook.

"No worries. I can rush to the grocery store. Just give me an hour to shower and get dressed." Looking quite excited for the first time since she got to the penthouse, she took her towel, wrapped it around her shoulders and made a mad dash for the living room. When she slid the door open, she grabbed her change of clothes and ran towards the bathroom. Jack, who was sitting on the couch, blinked when she ran past him, a huge grin on her. seconds later, everyone else went in, smiling from ear to ear.

"What's up?" Jack wanted to know.

"Carly-neesan said she's cooking dinner for us!" Rua yelled out excited. "Ruka, come on! Let's set the table! It's been ages since we used the dining room!" grabbing his sister's hand, they went directly to the dining room to retrieve their collection of expensive china.

"I'll just dry myself outside." Grabbing a chair, Aki placed it a few inches away from the sliding door and sat on it, letting the water all over her body drip down to the ground. "I wonder what Carly will cook for us."

"Hopefully, no one gets food poisoned." Crow joked.

Jack rolled his eyes. "I doubt it. I would've visited the hospital a second time if I got food poisoned last year."

"Why? What happened to you last year?" Kiryuu wanted to know.

"Hospitalized after the Fortune Cup." He stated. "I stayed over at Carly's place for a while after that. She did the cooking."

"Oh yeah, you two had been housemates." Aki said. "So, how was it living with her?" she asked with a teasing tone.

"None of your business, Izayoi." He barked.

"Was she the perfect wife?" the carrot top of the group asked immediately. "Did she go 'Welcome home, Jack! Would you like dinner? Bath? Or… perhaps me?' on you when you stayed over?" Crow started howling with laughter as he attempted to mimic a woman's voice, but failed to do so. Kiryuu himself was trying hard to tone down his laughter the moment he heard Crow say the sentence, but failed, for he was clutching unto his tummy, laughing loudly. Yuusei raised an eyebrow at this and aimed a smirk at Jack's direction while Aki blinked upon hearing the sentence.

"Dinner? Bath? Me? Huh?" Aki wondered.

"Typical wife statements, from what I heard. It's kinda true, though the 'me' part was added by some." Crow informed her.

Izayoi snorted a bit. "Carly saying that… is a bit impossible, don't you think?"

Kiryuu nodded. "Not unless her life depended on it."

To Jack's frustration, he suddenly imagined Carly wearing an apron, holding a mixing bowl and a whisk in each hand, saying the line. However, what shocked him was that his hormones suddenly took control of his logic, as well as imagination, for the nth time, and was now picturing a Carly Nagisa wearing _only_ an apron. The cloth did nothing to hide her… _parts_, and every little movement she made was enough to made bleed through the nostril.

"Okay, I'm done." a voice snapped him from his train of thoughts and looked up to see Carly…

… Who was scantily clad in some… outfit.

Well, for him, it was scantily clad, but probably not for others. Aki actually had the nerve to compliment her by saying that her shorts accentuated her _long legs_ while Kiryuu went as far as to say that she looked _cute_.

He took a sneak peek.

Carly was wearing a red short-sleeved plunging shirt that was top hugging while torso down, it was loose. The shirt's hem reached her upper tights, and she wore denim shorts that were partially hidden under the shirt. On her feet was a pair of flip-flops, while a handbag was on her forearm. Her trademark glasses were back on, which aided her visual impediment. "Anything you guys want me to get for you at the store? Ice cream? More snacks?"

"We're good." Kiryuu said, speaking up for Yuusei, Aki and him.

"Rua? Ruka?" she called out to them. "Anything you want from the grocery?"

"Ice cream!" the male twin yelled.

"U-ummm… I'd like chocolate ice cream please." Ruka said shyly.

"Any brand preference? Go ahead and tell. It's on me today." She smiled. When Rua shouted the most expensive brand of ice cream there was on the market, Carly nodded. "Okay, got it. See you all later—"

"Wait." Jack spoke up.

"Hmm?" she turned to look at the former King of Running Duels.

"I'm going with you."

Behind him, Kiryuu's jaws dropped, though he managed to flash a thumbs-up sign at Carly, who rolled her eyes at him. Yuusei gave a small smile of encouragement, while Aki was grinning mischievously. Ruka smiled to herself while Rua, who didn't notice what was happening, suddenly said, "I wanna go too!"

"No, Rua. We have to finish setting up the table first!" his sister reprimanded him.

"Aww! Can't we do it later?" he really wanted to spend some time with his idol, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so.

"No. We have to finish before Carly-neesan gets back. We have to wash the china too."

"Aww, fine…" he pouted. "Maybe next time…"

Carly sighed. Looks like she was stuck with someone she really didn't want to deal with right now. "Come on, let's go."

* * *

The trip to the grocery was quite awkward and filled with awkward silence. Both of them did not dare try to strike up a conversation with each other as not to ruin the silence, as well as not to offend each other. The heated argument earlier was the cause of the silence between them, and neither one was budging to give an apology.

When they got to the grocery store, Carly automatically got a small basket and headed straight for the aisle that was filled with noodles. Jack chose this moment to speak. "Spaghetti for dinner?" he asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

"Yeah." She said absentmindedly. "Easiest thing to cook, and it can serve many people all in one go." She took a pack of spaghetti noodles and headed to the cooking oil section, wherein she got a bottle. The spaghetti sauce was next, followed by a loaf of bread that she had gotten from the bakery and it was off to the chiller section where she had gotten some packs of hotdogs, as well as a block of cheese. Jack tried to fasten his walking pace with her, but he was unable to keep up with her. Either she was in a mad rush to gather all the ingredients, or she was avoiding him. He was betting on the latter, since she barely even glanced at him when he asked her what she was planning for dinner.

"Hmm… looks like I got all." She said, checking all of the items in the basket to make sure that she didn't forget an item.

"You forgot the garlic and the butter." He supplied helpfully.

She nearly dropped the basket. "Ack! Thanks for that! Can you hold this for me?" without warning, she grabbed his hand and placed the basket handles on his palm and ran towards the other side of the store, where the items were located. Minutes later, she ran towards him, garlic and butter in her arms. Curiously, there were also half a dozen eggs, flour, and some other ingredients he wasn't familiar with. "There. I got all the items." She tried to reach out for the handle of the basket, but Jack stretched his arms so it would be out of her reach.

"I'll carry it. It's too heavy for you."

"Oh, umm… thanks."

Their last stop was the freezer area where all the ice creams were located. When Carly found the brand and checked the price, she raised an eyebrow. "Goodness, why so expensive?" despite the words, she placed not only one ice cream, but _three _flavors in the basket. "Ah, well. Might as well get more and taste everything so I can brag about it…"

"Suit yourself."

When they had proceeded to the counter to check out, Carly had grabbed a box of snack at the last minute, which amused Jack greatly, for it took her until the very last second to decide to get one. After she had paid for everything, she tore open the box and took a stick. "Mmmm… yummy…" she sighed happily as she munched one stick after the other. Jack, who was carrying all three grocery bags, concentrated on the road ahead, though it did not stop him from stealing glances her way.

"Here, have one." She shoved a coated stick at his way, waiting for him to open his mouth.

"Not hungry…" he muttered.

"Oh, come on. It's yummy. I promise it won't ruin your appetite." She flashed him a shy smile, which nearly made him weak at the knees. Nearly, because someone like him was immune to such, Carly Nagisa notwithstanding.

He took a bite at the coated snack and began to munch. "Not bad…"

"See? I told you it's yummy!" she grinned at him.

"Y-yeah…"

Smiling to herself, she walked beside him slowly, not wanting to be in a hurry to get back to the penthouse. They did the grocery at an area which was quite far from where Rua and Ruka lived, but Carly was fine with a bit of walking.

'_Besides, Jack is with you.'_

Suddenly, Yuusei's advice about her making a move on Jack Atlas came into mind, and she willed herself to stay calm, despite her head beating madly against her chest. She really had wanted to 'make a move' on him, but was too scared of the backlash that might follow. She figured that the more they walked, the more she might be able to summon the courage to do what she had intended. Unfortunately, the opposite was happening, and she grew more nervous than ever.

'_Come on, Carly, it's not as if your life depends on this! Only your self-esteem, and probably your self-confidence, but still, just go for it!'_

The nerves suddenly came back, and she clenched and unclenched her right hand, nervous about what she was planning. Truth to be told, she felt more nervous right now than ever before. Was it because what she was about to do was akin to 'taking another step in a relationship'…?

'_Well, based on what everyone else said… he is possessive, he can't express his feelings clearly, he gets jealous easily and he can't make a move on me. In short, he falls in the category of a _tsundere._' _at this, she sighed deeply, wondering if she had been hopeless the moment she laid her eyes on him. _'But then again, he had his own way of confessing so… that counts, right?'_

Suddenly, she felt more confident, and before she could back out again…

… She grabbed the grocery bag that Jack was holding on his left hand and replaced it with her right hand. Before he could protest, she gave his hand a light squeeze before looking away and concentrating on the ground they were walking on.

Her heartbeat was ringing in her ears because of her nervousness, and she was very sure that he could hear it too. Carly willed herself to calm down, to no avail.

Somehow, she wished she had more of Dark Signer Carly's confidence. She, who would probably dismiss holding hands as 'child's play', was the type to grab Jack Atlas' hand, pull him closer and kiss him in broad daylight. With tongue.

She blushed deeper at the thought of Jack kissing her deeply.

It _was _possible to happen in her dreams, but in real life?

Impossible.

* * *

While Carly was lost in her own thoughts, Jack tried his best to act nonchalant to the fact that _she _ was holding _his left hand_. He had been tempted to do such, but with what had happened between them earlier, he was unsure whether it would be a good move or not. He was nearly afraid that she might let go the instant their hands brush, but for her to initiate…

'_I'm acting like a lovesick child. I can't believe this…'_

And he thought romance was dead in him.

Hormones, it seems, were now kicking him in the ass with full force. Two years ago, the only thing on his mind were duels, riding duels, more duels, be the King and duels. After meeting Carly Nagisa, suddenly, his perspective changed. His mind finally realized that life was more than just duels and becoming king, and that there was another thing of interest: the opposite sex.

How could someone like her turn his simple life into a complicated one?

'_Ah, hell. I might as well enjoy this.'_ Just before he could stop himself, he intertwined his fingers with hers, holding it tight, as if his life depended on it. admittedly, he found it comforting that his hand was warm, in contrast to Carly's cold left hand. He snorted at the thought, remembering that with the way she was dressed, she was bound to get cold from the weather they were having.

Hand in hand, they strolled back to the penthouse, slowing their pace, with both afraid that as soon as they step into the apartment building, the moment would be lost. The usual fifteen minute walk from the grocery store to Tops took them forty-five minutes. When both had walked past the entrance and into the lobby, neither of them had let go of the other's hand, even if they were inside the elevator already. When they reached the top-most floor and they stepped out of the elevator, Jack Atlas did the impossible: dropping the grocery bags on the floor, he pulled Carly with his left hand, wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight. Carly, startled with his actions, dropped the grocery bag and stood for nearly half a minute before proceeding to return his hug.

"You're cold." Jack mumbled.

"Yeah, well… I was kinda asking for it, with this outfit, I mean…"

"Idiot." He told her.

"You seem to like it anyway. You haven't been taking your eyes off my legs."

"Everyone was looking at it, and I don't like it."

She decided to tease him. "Jealous?"

"… I don't like it when people stare at what's _mine_." He told her bluntly, his face being cradled by her shoulder as not to let her see that he was actually _pouting_ and _fuming_. "I don't like sharing what's mine and mine alone."

She felt a jolt course through her body.

That was quite… blunt.

'_But then again, you already gave him a signal of sorts.'_ Her mind told her.

"Y-yeah, well…" honestly, she didn't know what to say to him after his blunt statement. It was totally unexpected on her part, since she had only meant to tease him. what she was anticipating was him telling her off and denying such, but…

"A-anyway, let's get going. I still need to cook!" pulling away from his warm embrace (something that she slightly regretted, since he was so warm), she picked up the grocery bag and grimaced. "Ugh, I hope the eggs didn't crack open or something…" she peeked inside and sighed in relief when she found that not one of them had gotten broken from the impact.

"You're more concerned about the ingredients." He huffed to himself.

"It's _my _money. Of course I'm concerned! Besides, these eggs will be used for something special!"

* * *

As soon as they had gotten back to the apartment, Carly wasted no time in preparing dinner. With an apron over her shirt and shorts, she began cooking their dinner. Two hours later, everyone was seated at their respective seats in the dining table. Rua was seated at the head of the table, with Ruka on his right. Aki sat across from Ruka, while Yuusei was beside her. next to Ruka was Crow, then Kiryuu. Jack, on the other hand, sat beside Kiryuu.

"Dig in, everyone." Carly, who was balancing the sauce and the noodles on both hands, placed the dishes in front of them. She disappeared into the kitchen again and returned with a huge plate of garlic bread in her hands. "Go on, eat!"

Rua shook his head. "We're waiting for you to sit down, Carly-neesan."

"Oh, okay. Just one more dish…" once again, she headed into the kitchen and came back with a steaming bowl in her hands. She then placed the said item in front of the blond duelist, who had a confused look on his face. "Apology offering." She informed him, smiling a bit. "I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier."

Crow raised an eyebrow. "Is that… ramen?"

"Yeah, but it's just the basic one. I didn't have time to make it special. It's just _miso _ramen." She said, sitting down beside Kiryuu. "I sure hope that'll suffice."

Crow raised his fork, ready to attack the noodles of Jack's bowl, only to get his hand punched. "OUCH! What the hell was that for?"

"It's _mine_." To everyone's shock and amusement, a dark aura started emitting around Jack, who was glaring at everyone who was eyeing his special bowl.

"Relax, geez. No one is interested in your ramen." Aki rolled her eyes and started helping herself with the spaghetti. "I'm not interested in it, for your information."

Amethyst eyes suddenly went on lock on mode at Yuusei's direction. "I'm not interested in it as well." he said.

"I won't touch it ever again, don't worry." Crow reassured him, who began digging in.

Kiryuu was amused from all this. "Jack, relax. I will not snatch it away from you, so go on ahead and eat."

With that, the blond duelist began eating his special meal in silence.

Carly herself began to dig in when Kiryuu suddenly spoke up, low enough for her to hear. "I'll be returning to Satisfaction Town tomorrow. I'll be seeing you around Monday night." Upon her questioning look, he continued. "I need to check up on the rebuilding, as well as to visit Nico and West. I'll be bring them to Neo Domino City on my way back so I can keep a closer eye on them."

"Where will they be staying?" she asked. Kiryuu had his own board and lodging, but it was only enough to accommodate one person, and not an adult and two children.

"Oh, Misty said that they're welcome to stay over at her apartment. We've talked about it already."

Suddenly, Carly began munching at a faster pace, and after swallowing her food, she gave out a mischievous look that was a cross between a smile and a smirk. "Oooooh… I see."

Kiryuu narrowed his amber eyes at her. "What?"

"Playing house already? How cute."

"W-w-w-wh—"

"And Misty is the mommy. I approve wholeheartedly." She flashed him a thumbs up and continued eating dinner, oblivious to the fact that Kiryuu was turning as red as the spaghetti sauce she had made.

"You little brat." Kiryuu remarked. "Since when did you get so witty?"

She gave him a smirk. "Since I started hanging out with you, _onii-san_." She said before chuckling.

* * *

With dinner over and done with, Carly Nagisa had been the first to excuse herself, stating that she had to get back to her apartment because of her pending work. It was true: she was still not done with her interview questions for all the teams that will be joining this year's World Riding Duel Grand Prix, and she had been slacking off from her main job because of her modeling stint. On top of which, she still lacked some sleep, and volunteering to cook dinner was a huge mistake on her part, for she was feeling very tired right now.

Stifling a yawn, she proceeded to pack her stuff, sorting everything from wet to dry.

"You're going home?" when she looked up, she saw Jack looking intently at her. When she nodded, he said, "I'll take you back to your apartment."

"Why?"

He gave her a haughty look. "You're asking me _why_? You think you can go back to your apartment looking like you're going to drop down any minute?"

"I'm not going to drop down any minu—"

"Don't argue with me." He warned her.

"Fine. Then you _may_ accompany me back to my apartment." She snapped, stuffing her items into her bag crossly. The lack of sleep was making her irritable, and his arrogance was the last thing she needed right now.

"You really lack sleep. You're irritable right now." He told her, arms crossed over his chest, still towering over her crouching figure. "Hurry up so you can go home."

Too tired to argue, she finished packing her stuff in seconds. As soon as she stood up, he took her bag. "I'll just walk her home." He announced.

Cheers erupted from Rua, who was staring at his idol with stars in his eyes. "Go for it, Jack!" he said excitedly, running over to Carly to give her a hug, though he was more careful this time as not to tackle her. "Thanks for today, 'nee-san! Let's duel again some other time!"

"Sure, Rua, just tell me when you want to have a duel." She gave him a tired smile.

Izayoi Aki walked over to where Carly was and gave her a hug. "Will you be dropping by the garage next week? I remember Jack mentioning that you intend on interviewing the team?"

"Ah yes, regarding that, when can I schedule an interview with Team 5D's?" suddenly, she was acting like a professional.

Yuusei found it amusing. "Drop by anytime this week. We'll all be there."

"Monday, then." She nodded. "I'll see you all again by Monday afternoon."

Kiryuu gave her a wave. "See you Monday night. Get some rest. You know what happens during the night."

The very cryptic statement said by Kiryuu Kyousuke did not go past everyone's hearing. While the twins found nothing wrong with it, the older ones were puzzled. Crow's forehead creased, Yuusei gave Kiryuu a questioning look while Aki was worried that Jack might suddenly cause a commotion. Thankfully, it looked like he chose not to hear anything and instead told Carly that they should leave. As soon as the door closed, the red head spoke up. "Kiryuu, did you do that on purpose?"

"To be honest, no. It suddenly slipped and… well, too late for me to take it back." He gave an apologetic smile.

"What did you mean by that anyway?" Crow asked curiously.

"Just a nightly thing that Carly, Misty and I do. We meet up every night and hang out." He explained. "That's all there is to it. I'm not interested in Carly. She's like my little sister."

"Yeah, but you unwillingly stirred something up…" Aki trailed.

"They'll live." Kiryuu said confidently. "Besides, if Jack can manage this, what more in the future?"

"What did Kiryuu mean by what he said earlier?" was the first thing that Jack asked Carly as soon as they got out of the building. Both were now currently heading for her apartment on foot.

* * *

"It's exactly what he meant. He and I will meet up again by Monday night." She told him.

"Why?" he asked tightly, trying to calm himself.

"He, Misty and I always meet up every night. We just hang out and stuff." She didn't exactly elaborate that they met up because of circumstances beyond their control. If the commercial shoots had ended yesterday, then she wouldn't have to slave over her modeling stint.

But then again, if it wasn't for the extension, she wouldn't have gotten to know Kiryuu Kyousuke better…

"Is that so…"

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I'm not interested in him."

"You'd better not be…" even though he had said it softly to himself, she still managed to catch the words, which made her blush.

Heck, he was jealous. AGAIN.

She found it endearing, really.

Before she could stop herself, she hugged him from behind. "Don't worry. I still love you, Jack…"

As soon as she said those words, to her horror, she suddenly realized that she had just given away her biggest secret.

… _This is what happens when I do not think before I speak. _Mentally, she smacked herself.

"W-what did you just say…?"

* * *

Chapter 5 coming soon. Slower updates, since school will start again on Monday. I'll try to write as much as I can.

Also, if you all need a status update for my fics, you can follow me on twitter, which is listed on my profile. :)

Do leave me a review and tell me what you think! :)


	5. Chapter 5

Here's the next chapter! Sorry for the late update, as I was busy getting my stuff ready for a Saturday cosplay. I had to cut this short so all of you can finally read the next installment.

* * *

Image Change

* * *

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Monday morning, and Carly Nagisa felt thoroughly drained. Despite feeling very tired from what had happened during the weekend, a lot of thoughts kept running through her head after Jack had wordlessly accompanied her back to her apartment that Saturday night. She tried to sleep during the night, but failed to do so. Instead, she worked on her pending articles, as well as the questions she will be asking the team for Monday's interview. Sunday came and gone, yet she was still unable to get a good night's sleep.

Sometimes, she hated her goody-two-shoes side.

Dark Signer Carly wouldn't have batted an eyelash at the blatant lie she gave Jack Atlas that Saturday night while the old Carly would have started shaking in fear and had a high possibility of bursting into tears and confessing everything.

As she had incorporated both sides of her, what had happened was this…

_Can she bluff her way through this one…?_

_Carly mentally kicked herself for saying things without thinking it through._

_Now he knew… or did he…?_

"_R-repeat what you just said!" Jack Atlas' voice was shaking, and she was not sure whether it was from shock or from anger._

_After a moment's pause, she swallowed before finding her voice again. "To be honest… I didn't know what I just said… somehow, it just came out naturally."_

"_Did you finally regain your memories?" her heart soared when she heard his hopeful tone, but the reporter knew that it was not yet time to tell him everything._

'When all of this is over, I'll have to come clean with everything.'_ "Sorry, but no… I'm trying my best to remember."_

_A sharp intake of breath followed after and then, a heavy sigh. "I… see." Was he… disappointed?_

_Wordlessly, he removed her arms around him and proceeded to walk. "It's getting late. You need to be home soon."_

_Carly followed suit, but couldn't help but feel frustrated with what she had just done. She never was the type to lie, and to lie to him was quite difficult to do. Her conscience was bothering her, and she willed it away, at least for the meantime. It really is a necessity, and not because she wanted to lie; rather, it was for the best._

_Their parting was a bit awkward, because right after she had unlocked the door to her apartment, he lingered for a bit, and she could've sworn he was getting red in the face. "Is something bothering you?" she asked._

"… _It's nothing." And with that, he walked away._

'I'm sorry, Jack. We're both busy. You don't need distractions; the WRGP is so near, and you need to concentrate. I'll just be a distraction to your practices and D-Wheel building. When this is all over, I promise, I'll tell you everything…'

Sighing once more to herself, she picked up her mobile phone and dialed Fudou Yuusei's number.

* * *

"Aki, can you answer my phone?" Yuusei was too engrossed in his work to bother with his phone. Besides, his hands were quite dirty from all the grease.

The red head did what she was told, and she answered it. "Oh, Carly, hey." Aki greeted.

"Hello, Aki. Is Yuusei busy?" at the confirmation, Carly replied, "I see. Well, I just want to confirm if you all are alright with three in the afternoon?"

Aki thought about it for a while: Crow had deliveries until 3 in the afternoon, Jack was usually idle until he got told off by Crow or Yuusei to start working while the twins ended their school at 4. "Three is a bit early… the twins get here around four-thirty, but if you want to hang out with us before forty-thirty, just go to the garage!" she really hoped that Carly would agree, since she was totally bored out of her mind, and Yuusei was too busy with work right now.

"Let me think about it. I still have some work to do, and I have no idea if I'll be able to leave early or not." Carly suddenly glanced at her clock, which read nine in the morning. "I'll just drop by, huh?"

"Yes. Yuusei and I are just here."

Suddenly, Carly gave out a little cough, as if she knew something. "Ah, I see. I'll just go there around five or so. Have fun with Yuusei." Before Aki could speak up, Carly had pressed the end button.

_Just… just…_

Izayoi could feel her cheeks burning.

_Just what did she mean by that!_

The door to the garage swung open, and in came Jack. "Yuusei, Izayoi." He greeted the two.

Yuusei stopped what he was doing to greet his friend. "Where have you been?"

"Kaiba Corporation." At Aki's raised eyebrow, he scowled. "Yes, I went there. Don't give me that look."

"Why were you even there?"

"They paid me for the rights to use my Wheel of Fortune for advertising purposes." He shrugged. "Easiest way to get money, and I don't have to work."

Aki snorted. "You sold them the rights?"

"They asked for it. They approached me, then asked if I was willing to lend the old D-Wheel to them." He explained. "Besides, I get some million yen in return—" before he could even finish his statement, Aki gave out an unlady-like shriek.

"A-a million?"

"I'm famous." He stated arrogantly. "Of course they will pay me tons of money for the exclusive use of my D-Wheel."

"Does that mean you'll be 'donating' at least an eight of what you got for the team?" Yuusei asked, amusement evident in his tone.

"Maybe. I need to pay off my debt to the café across the street."

At this, both Yuusei and Aki exchanged exasperated looks, though it was the latter who did so, while the former looked very amused at the typical reply of his childhood friend.

"Well, just inform us if you're willing to share your wealth." Yuusei said, going back to his work on the D-Wheels.

* * *

She was late.

Frickin' late for an interview, no less, and all because she had enjoyed herself too much during the press conference.

Dressed in a business suit that she normally does not wear for daily use, Carly Nagisa had been assigned by the newspaper company she was working for to cover the press conference of the Kaiba Corporation, which was held around the hour of noon. Despite it being a Monday, and not the usual day for press conferences because it was a major news day, they held it anyway because it was _the_ most powerful corporation in the world, and one had to be totally stupid not to attend the press conference if they had gotten an invitation for it.

Unlike most members of the media, Carly already had an inkling about what the press conference was all about, and not only the minute details, but the whole of it. After all, she was the model of the campaign that the press con had centered on.

She'd seen the teaser ads early this morning on the paper, as well as the huge electronic billboards all over the city. Even the bus stops had the ads running, and it made her think that the Kaiba Corporation had, indeed, spared no expense for their campaign.

One of the teaser ads that the creative team had agreed upon was this: with the Wheel of Fortune that served as the background, she was on the foreground, the shot being from the waist up to her shoulders. During this shoot, they had asked her to tie up her hair in a bun as not to reveal her identity immediately, and when they took the photo, it gave the impression that the model was looking at the D-Wheel on the background. As if to tease the audience further, the words, "Are you ready for me…?" was placed as the tagline.

When she had asked as to what had happened to her butt shots, she was told that those shots were to be printed _exclusively_ for men's magazines, as well as the D-Wheel enthusiasts' magazines.

_My goodness, in men's magazines…!_ She wondered if the risqué magazines would have her butt shots, but then again, nearly a hundred percent of the magazines distributed in Japan were under the Kaiba Corporation, so there really was a huge chance of her butt shots getting either the center fold, the right side page opposite the editorial or even the back cover. And if that wasn't enough, they'd get even the women's magazines and spend billions of yen for it.

The conference started precisely at noon, and when all of the media had been handed out their press kits, the creative director of the Kaiba Corporation gave the barest details about the campaign they will be having. Carly knew what the whole campaign was about, but acted as if she had no idea what it was all about, and even went on to ask the director a few questions of her own for 'clarification purposes'.

When a reporter from the television station asked for the identity of the model, she could've sworn that the director had discreetly looked at her, then back to the male reporter. "I'm afraid I cannot reveal the identity of, err, K."

"K? Is that spelled as K-E-I or simply the letter K?" at once, all of them, Carly included, began to furiously type the information down their high-tech tablets PCs.

"Simply the letter K." the director said. "For now, we cannot release any information about it, but we will call for another press conference when we are ready." At the groan of the media, the director gave out a cheeky grin. "Hey, you know, since you're all here, you can have a sneak peek at the newest commercial we'll be airing later at prime time!"

Two hours later, the press conference was done, and the media was treated to a scrumptious banquet for a late lunch. While most of the members of the media dined and chatted with one another, Carly had balanced both eating and typing away on her tablet PC. The newspaper company was waiting for her front page story, which was this press conference, for the evening edition of the newspaper. As soon as she was done, she had saved the file and had sent the story twice to her email, as well as her boss' email, just to be sure.

Around half past three, she had received a text message from Izayoi:

"Where are you?"

At this, she swore softly to herself, disappointed with the fact that she _nearly forgot_ that she had an interview scheduled for the team. Finishing up the food on her plate, she excused herself from her fellow reporters and made a mad dash for her car. The old one that she had been driving ever since she got her license had been sold recently. The new one she had right now was brand new, and was given to her when she entered the newspaper company she was currently working for because she was a field reporter. She had to go around the city to get her news, after all.

Unfortunately for her, the plan to go back to her apartment to have a change of clothes did not push through because of the heavy traffic, and she was forced to go straight to Poppo Time. When she got there, it was already quarter to five. Parking in the designated area, she hastily opened the door of the car, locked it and ran as fast as she could in her pumps. Knocking three times on the door, she opened it and yelled, "I'm so sorry I'm late!"

"No prob… woah." Suddenly, Rua was gaping at her.

"What's wrong?"

"Carly-neechan, is that you?" the male twin suddenly ran up towards her, looking up. His eyes were filled with confusion and excitement.

"Uh, yes…?"

At this, he suddenly threw his arms around her waist. "You look different! I hardly recognized you!"

"Err, is that a bad thing…?"

"No, no! You look so pretty!"

She smiled. "Team 5D's! Are you all complete right now?"

"Jack went out for a bit. He should be back—" before Aki could complete her sentence, the door swung open and in came the blond duelist. Luckily, he did not hit the two, for it missed them by a few inches. "Oh, there he is."

At once, Rua flung himself at his idol, grinning madly. "How was the Kaiba Corporation?"

"It hasn't moved one bit from its current location." He answered sarcastically.

Carly turned to look at him. "You were at the Kaiba Corporation press conference? I didn't notice you." She said.

At once, he glared at her. "Who the hell are you?" he did not like the fact that this woman was way too friendly with him and addressed him like they were close.

In response, she could only blink back at him and stare in horror at what he had just uttered. "Uhh… did he just hit his head against a blunt object and had amnesia…?" she asked no one in particular.

"Why you…!" just before he could yell at her, Rua poked him in the arm. "What now?"

"Uhh… you do know that you're yelling at Carly-neesan…?"

"… Wait, what?" at once, he scrutinized her with his gaze, taking in both what Rua said and what made her… not Carly. The tacky vest and the striped shirt was gone, as well as her jeans and running shoes. The woman who stood in front of him was wearing a khaki safari shirt dress and had rather thick belt on her waist, the same color as her dress. On her feet were dark brown pumps, though despite the height boost, she only reached up to his shoulders. On the bridge of her nose were dark green-rimmed eyeglasses and her hair was tied up in a high bun.

She did not look like the old Carly; not one bit.

Personally, Carly felt as if he was slowly undressing her with his gaze, which made her blush. Why was he looking at her so intently anyway? "Err, is everyone ready now…?" at Yuusei's nod, she clapped her hands. "Great! I'll get my stuff first from my car, then we can start!" she disappeared once more, only to return several minutes later with a huge bag on her hands. Wasting no more time, she hopped down the huge gap between the door and the garage instead of using the stone stairs, earning a gasp from Aki and Ruka when she landed perfectly in her pumps and did not wobble for a second.

"I'll first interview you all for ten minutes, then I'll do an individual interview of each member for five minutes or less. Is that alright with you all?" at their nod, she grinned. "Let's begin!"

* * *

A little over an hour had passed, and she was done with her work, ending the interview with the twins. After thanking all of them profusely for their time, she said, "Okay, I'd better get going now—"

"You're not staying?" Yuusei asked, a little concerned that their friend was leaving immediately after the interview. Usually, Carly stayed to hang out with them until around nine in the evening. It was only five-thirty.

"Sorry, I promised Kyou that I'll meet up with him along with the kids by six and—" suddenly, her mobile phone rang. "Excuse me." She pressed the green button. "Kyou?"

"Hey, little sister." He said. "Uh, sorry, we can't meet up tonight."

"Did something happen?"

"Well… you could say that."

She blinked. "The kids came down with something?"

"Err, Misty wants to take them out to dinner, and I need to go as well, since those two haven't warmed up to her yet."

To everyone's surprise, Carly Nagisa burst out laughing, clutching her tummy in the process while struggling to holding on to her phone. "Oh my…" in between laughter, she struggled to form the words. "K-Kyou… I… s-sorry, I can't stop laughing…!"

"What now?" she could detect him frowning.

"Mommy, daddy and the kids, out for dinner, leaving me, the aunt, all alone to fend off for herself." She faked a sigh just to emphasize her point.

"Oh, shut up!" he snapped.

"Joking, Kyou." She cleared her throat. "No go for tonight, then? I'll be alone?"

"We'll try to catch up." He promised her.

"Okay. I'll see you and Misty if you two will go. Later, then." As soon as she hung up, Aki gave her a funny look.

"What's up?"

"Ah, well… Kyou will be going out tonight with the kids and… Misty, so I'll be going solo flight, unless they'll decide to drop by later." She informed them, taking a glance at her watch as well. "Time's a wasting. I need to go now. See you all some other time!"

Without waiting for their replies, she made a mad dash back to her car. Jack tried to chase after her, and despite her handicap because of the heels, she had managed to outrun him. When he did catch up to her, she was already in her car and driving away, oblivious to everything around her. He watched as her car sped past him, wondering if she was still uncomfortable with what had happened to them last Saturday night.

Truth to be told, he had always been wishing for her to finally regain her memories so that everything would at least have a semblance of normalcy. Unfortunately, it had already been a year, and no such luck. She was still the same old Carly, though under close scrutiny, she was also different. He couldn't seem to pinpoint it, but he knew that something in her changed.

Whatever it was, he somehow liked it, but at the same time feared it.

A spunky and bold Carly Nagisa only reminded him of her Dark Signer self, which reminded him of that duel and… that vision.

'_Why am I thinking of the past?'_ that was the last thing he wanted to remember, which only made him feel worse since it spoke volumes of how he was unable to save her, as well as his stupidity for brushing her off.

_Just let it go, damn it._

* * *

Thus began Carly's hectic photoshoot schedule.

For the whole month, she would go to work on mornings, then in the evenings, or as soon as she was done with her work, she would head over to either the Kaiba Corporation building or to a shoot location in Neo Domino City. Kiryuu Kyousuke and Misty Lola would accompany her at times, but more often than not, they've left her alone, since both were busy with their jobs (Misty was still doing some modeling shoots while Kiryuu had been collaborating with the Kaiba Corporation R&D with her final D-Wheel designs). Shoots ended usually around six in the morning, and she only had two hours to go back to her apartment and freshen up. On weekends, she slept like a log and lingered on her bed until noon or until she was hungry. Ever since her flighty departure from Poppo Time, Team 5D's had been asking her if she wanted to hang out with them, which she declined. She was totally exhausted and stressed out, and she needed every free time of hers to get some sleep. At the same time, she needed to show that she was able to balance both her main career and her modeling stint, and that there was _nothing out of the ordinary_ in Carly Nagisa's life.

No one had to know about it until after the press conference.

When the final shoot was done three days before the scheduled end, the advertising and public relations employees, as well as the creative director, threw her a huge party which got them all drinking from 10 in the evening until 7 in the morning. Still smashed from the party, she filed a one day leave of absence the next day to nurse her hangover.

The next day, however, was a different story.

As soon as she got up, her whole world started spinning like mad. Try as she might to get back to bed and get up a few minutes later, the spinning did not cease. She felt like throwing up, but decided against it, as getting up to go to the bathroom would have been a huge struggle, and she did not want to mess up the sheets. Sending Aki a quick SMS, she waited for a few seconds before receiving a reply. Immediately, she called the number that Aki gave her.

"Hello?"

"Hi… can you come over to my place right now? I think I need to go to the hospital, but I can't move without seeing my whole world spin literally so…"

"I'll be there in five minutes."

* * *

As soon as Jack Atlas received the call, he did not just run. He pushed Crow when he got in the way of his running as he headed for the garage, hopped on to his D-Wheel and made a mad dash for Carly's apartment, speeding up his D-Wheel to some 90 kilometers per hour. He got there in two minutes flat, rushed up the stairs, fumbled for the keys inside his pocket and unlocked the door, nearly unhinging it when he pushed it open. "Carly!"

"I-In here!" he went for her room and saw her looking quite pale, lying on her bed. "Y-you got here early."

"What the hell happened to you?" he demanded.

"Overworked myself… then… went out drinking…" at this, she felt a wave of nausea so she shut her mouth.

"Idiot. Alcohol and fatigue _do not mix!_" he nearly barked at her, startling her. He had never shouted at her before, nor had she seen him so angry, except during their riding duel a year ago. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I… I'm sorry…" she said lamely, then wondering suddenly why she had to apologize to him.

"Let's get going. Do you have an emergency bag of sorts?" when she shook her head, he sighed. "… I can't believe I'll be doing this." Without warning, he opened her closet. "Now, can you tell me where you're hiding your… underwear?"

Honestly, she wanted her bed to swallow her alive, but it wasn't the time for such. He looked way too serious, and if she showed any hint of embarrassment or the like, he might just scream at her again. Carly chose to reply carefully. "First drawer. Just get whatever's in there."

Jack took one from the pile and… it turned out to be a rather skimpy pair wherein the waistband looked like it was only a piece of string, though it covered the front and the back parts. At this, he turned as red as his Crimson Dragon birthmark and tried hard not to get too flustered. "I-is this fine?" he showed her the pair of bright orange tanga-style underwear.

"Y-yeah, that's… fine." She replied lamely.

'_This is embarrassing.'_ Both thought simultaneously.

"My backpack is located in the third drawer." She told him. "You can stuff my clothes there."

He did what he was told, and he neatly folded her clothes inside the backpack. Jack walked over to her bathroom to retrieve a toothbrush, as well as her toothpaste, and placed it inside the bag. He took another towel from her cabinet and stuffed it there. "Let's go."

"You're using your D-Wheel? Please don't. I think I'll throw up." She told him.

"Fine. I'll use the car."

"You have a license for it?" she asked, surprised.

"Obviously. I drove one way back, but I concentrated on D-Wheels when I became King." He said, giving her a look that said, 'what, you don't believe me?'

It was almost cute, seeing Jack Atlas _pouting_.

"Use my car." She told him the license plate of her car. "C-can you help me—" within seconds, he was by her side, helping her out of bed. Taking her by her arm, he led her down to the steps of her apartment and into the parking area. He made her lie on the backseat while he drove. As much as he wanted to zip past all the cars to get to the hospital immediately, he had to take it easy while driving, lest he wanted her to throw up inside her car and he'll get blamed for it by her when she gets better.

* * *

"Well, there's nothing wrong with her. It's just fatigue." The on-call doctor said after examining Carly in the emergency room of the hospital. "She just needs strict bed rest so she can recover."

While Carly was relieved to hear that it wasn't that serious, Jack wasn't. "Are you sure? Look, she suddenly felt dizzy and couldn't get up from her bed. She had to call me to get her here, and all you say is that she just needs bed rest? You're not even going to confine her to monitor if her condition worsens?"

"It's just another case of fatigue, I assure you." The doctor said, but it fell on deaf ears.

"Confine her. I insist on it."

"What?" Carly sat up quickly, ignoring the wave of nausea that was coming over her. "I don't want to be confined here!"

"You need it, or you'll go off and do stupid things again to make yourself sick." He shot back.

"I don't want to file another leave of absence just for this!"

"Use your sick leave!"

"I don't want to! I need to go to work!" suddenly, she doubled over and moaned in pain. "Ugh."

A triumphant smirk made its way to Jack Atlas' handsome face, as if to say, 'I win.'. "Confine her. Two days, at least."

"Overnight only!" she shot back.

"Two days." He told the doctor, ignoring her outburst.

"I. Demand. An. Overnight. Stay." She emphasized every word.

"Fine." He huffed. "Overnight it is."

After Jack filled in all of the forms on her behalf, they got her a room which was, coincidentally, the room where he had also stayed in after his accident during the Fortune Cup finals. Carly noticed this and made a comment. "Ironically, we've switched places this time around."

"I know."

"Too bad you can't fit into the pink nurse uniform while you're here." The image of Jack wearing the small and form-fitting outfit made her snort and laugh so much that she nearly fell off her bed. "That'll be both disturbing and creepy." She shuddered.

"Ha, ha. Funny." He scowled, glaring his amethyst eyes at her.

"Kidding." _Not! _Out loud, she continued. "You can leave now. I'll be fine." She told him.

"No." he took a chair and sat down beside her bed. "I'll keep an eye on you, in case you try to escape."

"Like what you did before too?" she said, remembering the time wherein he had asked her to get him out of the hospital in a discreet manner, which involved her pushing him out on a stretcher and draped with a white sheet over him. "I can't even walk a few steps without having the urge to throw up. How can I even escape?"

"You'll have other means. If you're desperate enough, you'll manage." He pointed out to her.

"Good point." She nodded. "Fine, then take care of me. But don't say I didn't warn you. I'm a terrible patient."

"Thanks for the warning." He said flatly. "But I'll manage."

* * *

Chapter 6 will probably be a bit of the hospital interlude (fluffy moments, perhaps?) and (hopefully!) more Yuusei x Aki. It's a bit hard for me to write them as a pair, but I'll manage (somehow!).

Thanks for reading!


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